Banshee
by Bat13SJx
Summary: A female bat finds herself in the middle of the hot desert. She has no idea where she comes from, or who she is. Instantly, she winds up in the town of Dirt. The town helps her start over and even gives her a name: Banshee. Trouble starts when Bad Bill's forming plan to destroy the town is found out. Banshee must join his gang, find out his plan, and stop him before its too late.
1. Chapter 1

**This story (in my perspective) is not that good. It was my first Rango fanfic. I have changed it countless times, but it still just doesnt seem to work. This is the first chapter, so please tell me what you think.**

* * *

I was in the middle of the desert, thirsty, tired, and close to dying. I had no idea why or how I got here…on top of all that, I had no idea who I was either. I didn't have a mirror or anything that could reflect what I looked like. I seemed to be a strange bird…without any feathers. My wings were furry and were a light brown color. I wore a sleeveless grey shirt with a strange red symbol on the front. I also wore black jeans and black and white sneakers. I stared down at my winged hands. They were leathery. Like a…bat.

Bat? Was that what I was? I guess it would make sense. I couldn't remember my past, nothing looked familiar at all, but I guess it didn't really matter right? I was going to die in a couple minutes, because the sun was killing me. I kept walking. I used my wings to shield my face from the harsh sun. The desert stretched on. Of course, any minute now, I was going to pass out and die…but, when was that going to be?

My question was answered as a huge shadow loomed over me. I heard loud panting. The hot, sick breath rolling down my grey sleeveless shirt. I stiffened. Then I gathered up my courage to meet my fate and turned my head slowly. A huge coyote loomed over me, its' lips curled back into a snarl. Its' back fur sticking up. Then it reared back, ready to lunge.

I screamed and ran for dear life as the huge, three story tall coyote chased me through the endless desert. My instincts instantly kicked in. My wings fanned out. I flapped my wings like a mad person and took off. I gasped as I flew over the desert ground. I didn't have time to get overexcited over my ability to fly when I heard the coyotes' teeth snap close to my kicking legs. I could hear the coyote still gaining on me as I kept going the same direction I was heading. I flapped my wings harder from the running coyote.

I flew over dead animals, skulls, and small cacti. My eyes stared straight ahead. My heat skipped a beat. It was very faint but I could see it. A town. I flapped my wings harder, not caring that they felt like they were on fire. Someone in the town could help me and try to stop the coyote.

_The Town:_

I finally arrived in the town. I made quite a scene as I came flying in. The coyote's head went just above the buildings as it chased me down the one street in the town. The coyote snapped it s teeth at me and rubbed up against the buildings, making parts of the building buckle and break. Chunks of wood and other materials went flying. The townspeople ran screaming. They scattered in all directions and ran inside the nearby buildings. When they were inside, they watched the coyote chase me through the dirty, cracked windows.

I was getting tired fast. There had to be a person in charge in this town who could help me. A mayor? a sheriff? a deputy? Anyone? I quickly went down and hid behind a broken building. My heart thumped loudly. My sides were very sore, and my head was throbbing with pain, I couldn't take it anymore. I peaked behind the corner. The coyote stopped and was sniffing around the buildings.

The coyote sniffed the ground, and then went behind a building. I sighed with relief. I hoped that coyote would leave soon. I looked up. The citizens of the town were staring at me through the windows. It's not everyday you see a female bat flying into town, with a towering wild dog right behind her.

Suddenly I heard a low spine twisting growl behind me. I felt heavy panting on my back. I froze in fear. Slowly and cautiously, I turned my head. It found me. I quickly bolted out into the dusty street. I flapped my wings to get away, but the coyote pounced on me. I felt the air escape from my lungs. The huge, wild dog growled and breathed hot, foul breaths on my face. I struggled but it was no use. My wings screamed in pain.

All of the sudden, I heard a loud whistle. The coyote and I looked up. Standing about twenty feet away from us, was a green lizard in a cowboy getup. He was a chameleon. I saw the silver star on the right side of his shirt. He was the sheriff.

I could hear the townspeople cheering and chanting his name from the buildings. I couldn't quite catch the name, but I didn't care at the moment. The coyote growled at the sheriff. The predator got off me and charged the sheriff. The chameleon screamed and ran. I slowly got up. I was breathing heavily as I watched the sheriff get chased by the huge wild predator. My legs felt wobbly as I steadied myself to stay up. I took a quick look around the town.

The town was strange looking. For one thing, the saloon was a huge gas can. And the town seemed to be falling apart. _I guessed because of the harsh hot winds, and on top of all that, a coyote was destroying most of them right now._ Right when I thought that, the sheriff came running back down the street with the coyote at his heels.

They were coming right toward me. I started running as well. The sheriff ran right past me as if his tail was on fire. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my left wing. I quickly turned around and saw that the coyote's jaws were snapped tightly on my wing. Blood was seeping out. I screamed in pain.

Suddenly, something strange happened. One moment I was about to get eaten, the next thing I saw was the coyote sprawled on the dirt road with blood on its' muzzle. I stared at the coyote in shock. I swivelled my head around to see if anyone came out and shot it. No one was around…strange. Then I collapsed down on the ground and everything went black…

* * *

I woke up to a banging pain in my head. I groaned and reached up with my left wing to rub my head to calm it down. Pain shot up and down my wing. I winced at the pain and slowly set my wing down. I took my time opening my eyes. I blinked to get rid of the blurry surface. My eyes focused.

I was in a room. _How did I get here? _I asked myself in my head. Then I remembered the coyote, and the town. I was in the town. I looked around the room. It creaked and sighed. I laid on a cot bed with scratchy white sheets and a pillow filled with feathers. Right next to me was a small dresser and an oil lamp. Across from me was the wall which was splintered and falling apart. A cracked window was open to let the somewhat cool morning breeze in.

I winced at the morning light as it came in. _I don't remember the sun being so blinding,_ I thought to myself as I used my good wing to shield my face from the light. Then something caught my eye. I looked to the left of me where the small dresser was. Right there on the surface, was a pair of sunglasses. I looked at them for a minute. _Where those mine? They had to be, why else would they be there? _I reached over and grabbed them off the dresser and placed them on. The sun seemed less threatening.

Suddenly a door to my left opened and a female light brown lizard came in. She wore a nice blue dress with black boots. Her hair was dark brown and came down in thick curls. "Oh! You're awake, how are you feelin'?" she asked me. She had a western accent. "Ok… I guess," I said.

"You're lucky to have survived. How come that coyote was chasin' you in the first place?" she asked me. I stared at her blankly, _I had no idea why the coyote was chasing me in the first place. Mostly as all predators go, it was looking for food, and then found me and decided that I was its' next meal._ "I was its' dinner, I think," I said finally.

The lizard placed a washcloth into a bowl of water, ringed it out, and then placed it on top of my forehead. "Well, you're lucky to have lived to tell the tale," she said smiling a bit. Then she stopped smiling and then looked at me for a minute. "Who are you? And where are you from?" she asked. I blinked at her.

"I…I don't know, I have no idea who I am or where I came from," I said. The lizard nodded. "I see, well, I might as well tell you who I am, my name's Beans," she said. "That's an interesting name," I said, hoping it wouldn't insult her. Beans just shrugged. "My daddy named me, he loved beans," she said. I nodded. "Oh, well, it's a fine name… at least you have a name," I said.

Beans looked at me sternly. She put her hands on her hips. "Now don't go all hurtin' yourself. You'll remember your name, or at least try to before the town thinks one up for you," she said. I shrugged my shoulders. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Come in," said Beans.

The door opened. It was the sheriff that helped me get away from the coyote. I now had a good look at him. He wore a white shirt under a black vest and wore dirty blue jeans and brown boots with spurs at the heels. He had a red bandana tied around his neck and wore a brown cowboy hat. His chameleon eyes moved around a bit looking at Beans and me at the same time.

"Hello, Beans, hello…um, you," he said to us in a cheery voice. Beans smiled. "Hello, Sheriff Rango," she said. I turned my focus to the chameleon. Rango, so that's what the townspeople were saying when he appeared on the street, and tried to lure the coyote away.

"How are you feelin' there, missy?" Rango asked me. "Fine" I said. Rango smiled and nodded. "Well that's good, I'm surprised you survived, not a lot of strangers survive here," he said. My stomach twisted. Rango continued, "Me and the townsfolk were also surprised when you came flyin' into the town with that coyote right behind you, and you taking it down like that! you should join my posse," he said smiling. "Wait, what?" I asked.

"My posse, I think you should join, not a lot of folks can join it," he said.

"No, that's not what I meant, you said _I_ took the coyote down?" I asked him, slowly sitting up with my back leaning against the pillow. Rango nodded. "Yeah, everyone saw it, it was amazing. You sort of screamed at it, and it was sent flying through the air and landed a good distance away from you," said Rango, using his hands with dramatic waves and gestures. _I did? What? No that's not possible, how could I do that? _"What do you call yourself?" asked Rango. Beans spoke for me. "She doesn't remember, she also has no idea where she's from," she said. Rango looked at Beans and then back at me. "Ah, I see, well, you'll remember it, or if you can't, the town will name you something," said Rango reassuringly. Then he grabbed my wing.

"Come on, lets show you to the folks, shall we?" he asked smiling. I looked at Beans. She sighed. "I think you're ok, just don't go flyin' anywhere, you're gonna be in those bandages fer a while," she said to me as she took the damp washcloth off my forehead.

Then I was dragged through the door, down the stairs, and out into the open. When I was being dragged, I felt something brush up against my ankles. I looked down and almost fell. I was wearing a dress, instead of my normal grey sleeveless shirt and black pants.


	2. Chapter 2

Rango kept pulling me down the dusty street and to the gas can saloon. I hitched up my dress so I wouldn't trip over it. The dress was grey and black. It was sleeveless because of my wings. I also noticed I was wearing black boots like Beans's. I wondered if they were hers, and she let me borrow them.

A couple of the early risers watched as I was dragged down the street. A couple whispered to each other. I knew they were talking about me. Then Rango pulled me up the steps to the saloon and swung open the doors. We walked into the bar. The music that was playing in the room suddenly stopped, and the murmuring that was heard went dead silent, except for the strange scraping sound the fan was making overhead. Some boots shuffled, drinks were carefully set down. The place reeked of stale alcohol. I wrinkled my nose.

All eyes were on me and Rango. Rango smiled and waved, "Hello, everybody," he said. Everyone's face relaxed and said hello to Rango. Rango beamed, happy to get the attention. I was happy to _not _get the attention, but that was short. Everyone quieted down again and looked at me.

"Hey Rango, isn't that the bat who screamed at that coyote and killed it?" asked a desert mouse, who looked like an old miner. He had a long white matted beard and held a couple of spoons in his small, pale pink hand.

"Yep, you are correct, Spoons, this young girl is the one who took down that coyote single handedly, but she also couldn't have done it without the help of me," said Rango smiling triumphantly.

"How did ya do it?" asked a voice at the back of the bar. A couple heads turned. Standing right behind the bar, next to a toad, was a floppy eared, light grey jack rabbit. His matted dark grey hair was dirty and looked like it hadn't been washed for about a week. He wore a sleeveless dirty white shirt that didn't look white at all. He seemed to be around fourteen years old. He stared straight to me. I just shrugged.

The alcohol drinkers in the bar turned back and continued to stare at me. "I've never heard of a bat who could do that before," said a rodent in dirty coveralls. Everyone agreed. Instantly, the creatures in the bar started asking me questions.

"What's your name?"

"Where do you come from?"

"What are you?"

"Why were you being chased by a coyote?"

"Hold it! Hold it! Quiet you savages! Calm down!" yelled Rango. Everyone fell silent. "I brought her here to introduce herself to you guys, but, yer questions cannot be answered. She has no idea where she came from, or who she is. She was lost out in the desert, I'm guessing she came from the prairie dog people who live out in the canyons and own those bats," he said.

_Bats? Canyons? Maybe that's where I came from… prairie dogs? _I asked myself in my head. The people murmured to themselves. "You could be right, Rango," said a creepy looking black cat. Rango nodded. "I know I am, now, come my posse! We ride!" said Sheriff Rango excitedly.

Outside, Rango introduced me to his posse. There was eleven in all, including himself and Beans. He introduced me first to his deputy, Wounded Bird. Wounded Bird was a black crow, an Indian. He wore a poncho looking thing and a drooping top hat. He had a crutch supporting him because he was missing a leg. He nodded his head, not saying anything to me.

Then Rango introduced me to Mr. Furgus who was an old bird losing a lot of white feathers, he wore blue overalls and had rusty old keys hanging around his neck.

Then I was introduced to Waffles who was a desert lizard. He shook my good wing and smiled up at me. "Nice to meet you Miss Bat girl," he said in a raspy sounding voice. I smiled back.

Then I met Ambrose who was a small owl in a nice black coat and top hat. He bowed and smiled up at me. Then I met the bartender from the bar. His name was Buford. He wore a pale blue vest with a strange dash pattern over a white rolled up long sleeve shirt. He tipped his small, black bowler hat to me.

Then I met Elgin, the creepy looking black cat from the bar. He wore a long dirty coat and a worn out old cowboy hat. Sergeant Turley was an old bird who wore a soldier outfit. He had an arrow through his eye and out on the other side of his head. I already met Spoons, but I was still introduced to him anyway, and last, but not least, was the doctor. He was a drunk rabbit with one ear missing. He's mostly referred to as Doc and nothing else.

Just then, a young girl came up to Rango. "Rango! Where are you guys goin'? can I come too?" she asked hopefully. Rango crouched down to the little girl's level. She looked somewhat like a mouse. She wore a white shirt and a black skirt. A black wide brimmed hat sat on top of her head, and two small braids came down from behind her head.

"Sorry little sister, but I have an important job just for you instead," said Rango, "I want you to watch over the town for me, you'll be in charge while I'm gone, and if something goes wrong…well, lets just hope nothing goes wrong," said Rango as he stood up. The girl smiled, then her head turned to me. Her eyes widened. "Hey! You're that bat that took down that coyote!" she said, amazed. I smiled and nodded. She looked at me for a long time, smiling up at me. Then Rango cleared his throat and gently pushed the girl away from me. "Ok, that's enough, Priscilla. Now go run along, and take care of the town for me, ok?" he asked the girl, who's name was Priscilla. "Ok! Bye Mr. Rango, bye everyone!" she said.

When she was gone, the posse, Rango, and I got up on our roadrunners, ready to ride out. A couple of the men helped me get up on my roadrunner. I had to sit sideways because of my dress. It felt awkward. "And now, we ride!" said Rango excitedly. We rode our roadrunners out of the down and into the desert. I tried to keep from falling off the roadrunner. Rango was failing to do so. He fell off while the roadrunner was still running, but quickly got back on the saddle.

Just then Waffles rode his roadrunner up next to me. I turned to him. "Hey Waffles? Do you know where we are going?" I asked him. Waffles gave me a funny smile. "We're going to the canyons and see if you are from the Prairie Dog territory," he said. "How far is that?" I asked. "About a day away," said Wounded Bird, riding up on the other side of me. I haven't heard him speak until now.

I felt awkward being here. It didn't seem I was making friends amongst the posse that much. I wonder if they liked me, just like how they liked Rango. We kept riding. We would sometimes stop for breaks, then we would get back up on our roadrunners and ride again. We rode on for what seemed like days. The sun started to dip down low over the horizon.

The beautiful bright, blue sky changed to darker shades of blue. The golden sun dipped low over the mountains. We stopped for the night. A roaring fire was started up and we circled around the warm embers. I placed my sunglasses into the pocket of my dress. The posse and Rango talked about stories and told jokes. I stayed quiet. I didn't want to talk, I just liked listening in on the conversations.

They talked about the time when Rango first arrived in their town. They said that the town was slowly dying because of the shortage of water. Then everyone got out their own canteens filled with water and drank happily. They didn't want to go through that again. I could tell.

Waffles brought out a bag of marshmallows. Everyone instantly grabbed a stick and got a marshmallow. "Would you like a marshmallow, miss?" offered Waffles. I accepted one from him and found a stick. I stuck the delicious treat on the end of the stick and placed it over the fire with the rest of the marshmallows on their own sticks.


	3. Chapter 3

It was quiet for a while as we sat around the campfire. The soft, cool breeze ruffled my fur and dress. I stared at my marshmallow as it slowly turned from white to a light brown. Finally, Mr. Furgus spoke up, breaking the silence. "I just remembered something I heard from some townspeople long ago," he said. Everyone turned to him. "What did you hear?" asked Ambrose, his glossy marble eyes looking at Mr. Furgus. Mr. Furgus continued. "I remembered the folks mentioning about the supernatural, to be more specific, ghosts," he said. No one said anything.

Everyone jumped when they heard a long lonely cry from an animal far out. "Nice subject to be talking about at this time," said Spoons bitterly. "Why are you bringing up the subject of ghosts anyway?" asked Sergeant Turley. White feathers fell from Mr. Furgus' arms. "Because, I remembered them talking about a specific type of ghost, a spirit to be precise, it reminded me of Miss Bat girl over here," he said jerking his head to me.

I froze when everyone turned to me. My marshmallow fell into the fire and burned to a sugary black crisp. "What about her?" asked Elgin. "Yeah, she's not a ghost," said Waffles, but then started touching my wings, checking to see if I really was. "She's not a ghost, or a spirit, or whatever you think she is," said Beans with a bit of anger in her voice.

Rango cleared his throat. "Um, Beans? Lets see where Furgus is going with this shall we? I don't think he is trying to insult her in any way," said Rango. "What is he trying to say then?" asked Doc who looked up from his huge bean he was eating greedily the whole time. Mr. Furgus held up his featherless arms. "All I'm trying to say, is that the townspeople were talking about ghosts and spirits, but the one they were mostly talking about, was the Banshee," said Furgus. A cold wind blew through us which sent chills down our backs. Some of the men gasped and murmured amongst themselves. "What's a Banshee?" I finally asked. Everyone turned to me.

"Oh come now Miss Bat girl, everyone knows what a Banshee is…" said Rango, but then turned to Mr. Furgus. Obviously he knew as much info on Banshees as I did. "Banshee is female spirit, cries heard far and wide, whoever hear it, mean someone die," answered Wounded Bird. I nodded.

"Banshee…hey! That's what yer name can be!" said Spoons excitedly to me. "Yeah, that's also what I was going for," said Mr. Furgus. "Yes, and me too as well," said Rango. Beans rolled her eyes. "Banshee… not a bad name for you," said Buford. "Yeah, it really suits you," said Elgin. "Yeah! Really suits you!" repeated Waffles happily.

I smiled. Banshee, not a bad name. Mostly I guess because of when I screamed and sent the coyote backwards and killed it. Everyone was buzzing with excitement. "Hey, Miss Banshee, do that scream thing again," said Sergeant Turley. "Oh yeah, yeah, do that scream thing," said Doc. Everyone nodded excitedly.

"Um, ok…uh, what should I scream at?" I asked them, standing up. The posse and Rango looked around for something for me to scream at. "Oh! How about that boulder over there?" asked Ambrose pointing a feather over to the lonely boulder ten feet from the camp. Everyone agreed and cheered me on. I slowly walked toward the boulder. I stopped about seven feet from it. I could hear them quieting down and waiting for me to scream at it. The cool wind whipped through my hair.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember how I did it last time. _I don't think it could be that simple, could it? Just scream and then watch the object fly through the air and land about a good distance away from you? I might as well try, everyone is waiting. _

I pressed by ears down against the back of my head, took a deep breath and screamed at the boulder. I wasn't sure if I did make the boulder fly through the air and land far away from me, but I didn't want to find out. I quickly went back to the camp and sat down. I buried my head in my wings.

I hated being in the middle of attention. I knew I failed. _It was just a fluke, I didn't make that coyote fly through the air and land twenty feet away from me,_ I thought. _Everyone was going to start thinking I'm a fake and then abandon me out here in the middle of nowhere_. I waited for the posse and Rango to stand up and leave… but then, I realized it was still quiet. I looked up and noticed everyone was still looking the same direction where I was and the boulder. Suddenly I heard a loud crash. I jumped up and looked where the sound came from.

My heart skipped a beat. It was the boulder I screamed at. It landed about thirty feet away from the camp. On the ground, I noticed a huge crater in place of where I screamed. _What? Impossible! _I yelled in my head. I looked at everyone's face. Their eyes were wide with shock and awe. Some of their mouths were hanging open. The posse and Rango slowly turned their heads to me. Then their faces broke into smiles and they all cheered. "That was amazing!" said Spoons, patting my good wing. The posse crowded around me. They patted my back and the top of my head. After that, we all went to bed in our own sleeping bags and fell asleep under the stars. The fire died down and the embers flickered out.

The next day, we drank from our canteens, ate some food, and then saddled up. I fished out my sunglasses and placed them over my eyes. The sunglasses were my new best friends. I didn't understand why my eyes were so sensitive to the sun, but I just lived with it and gripped the reins tightly as my roadrunner bolted down the endless desert landscape along with the others. We rode the rest of the way and entered the canyon that Rango mentioned where the prairie dogs and bats lived. It went all the way down till it ended up at the end. Carved into the canyon, were a couple homes.

"Ok everyone, I'll talk with Balthazar and ask if Banshee lives here with them. Then we can ride back and feel good inside that we did the right thing helping Banshee return to her folks," said Rango happily. The posse looked down and shuffled their feet sadly. "Why can't Miss Banshee stay with us? I'm sure she could stay in an extra room or something," asked Waffles looking up at Rango. Rango looked at his posse and sighed. "But wont you feel a lot better if she is back with her own k-" started Rango but then was interrupted when the earth all of the sudden started to shake. Everyone gasped and moved closer together.

Suddenly out from the hard dry earth came up hundreds of dirty, filthy creatures. I gasped as I quickly turned around in a complete circle, realizing that we were surrounded. The creatures growled and snarled at us. Crazy and wild -eyed. They shook the dirt from their fur and dirty clothes. They gripped their deadly, sharp weapons in their furry hands.

"Oh, you guys are good," said Rango, admiring their cool entrance. The prairie dogs sneered. "What do you want now lawman?" asked a female prairie dog with a rifle pointed at him. Rango took a step back from the rifle and cleared his throat. "Oh nothing much, just mostly came by to visit, and to see how you guys were doing, but, I would like to speak to-" started Rango, but was interrupted again. A creature was seen pushing his way through the zombie- entrance- making rodents. "Sheriff? What in tarnation are you doin' here? You better not be tryin' to do somethin' stupid like last time!" snapped the creature who finally came into full view.

He was an old blind mole rat. He had a scratchy linen piece of fabric around his eyes. He wore a worn dirty black hat with a dirt covered white night gown with a worn old sweater over it. He used a twisted looking stick to help him guide his way, and not run into anything. He had a funny looking nose that was like a limp umbrella handle.

"Hello, Balthazar," said Rango cheerfully, ignoring Balthazar's comment. Balthazar snapped his head in his direction. "What the hell do you want?" Balthazar asked impatiently, his nose sniffing the air. Rango straightened up, trying to look brave, and cleared his throat again. "Sir, me and my posse have come here to discuss about your bats, you see, we found a bat in our town and she has no idea who she is, or where she came from. So, we wondered if she belonged to you," said Rango.

Balthazar placed his hands under his cracked, wirey haired chin, and had his hands resting on his stick. "Hmmmm, a female bat? Mine? I don't think so, bring her forward," Balthazar said as he brought one of his hands out from under his chin and waved his hand for me to come forward.

I hesitated. A couple of gentle hands pressed my back to make me go forward. I did and carefully came up to the blind Balthazar. Balthazar's head lifted and he sniffed the air. "Is this her?" he asked. "Yes," I said in a quiet voice.

Balthazar jumped a bit and took a step back. The other prairie dogs gasped and murmured to each other. The posse and Rango looked at them confusingly. Balthazar's head lifted up where he assumed the posse was. "This bat can talk?" Balthazar asked in a surprised voice. "Of course she can, how else would she tell us that she has no idea where she comes from or who she is?" Beans pointed out. Balthazar shook his head. "I've never heard of a talkin' bat before," he said.

With that, Balthazar carefully reached out with his right hand, feeling for me. He grabbed a chunk of my hair and carefully pulled me forward. I bit my lower lip and wrinkled my nose as I came closer to him. He placed his stick in between his legs and used both disgusting hands to feel my face.

I winced and held my breath as his cracked, dirt caked hands ran over my face. He felt my hair, my ears, and then felt around in the inside front part of my mouth. I had my eyes closed tightly the whole time.

When he was done, my mouth tasted like dirt. I spat and used a bit from my dress to clean out the disgusting taste in my mouth. Balthazar got his walking stick out from under him and leaned on it.

"Nope, not mine, she's smaller then the female adults, I don't even think she would be much use to us anyway, can't ride her," said Balthazar. With that, he turned around and headed back to his home. The prairie dogs all did a weird call and went back down through the tunnels they came up through.


	4. Chapter 4

**Mostly, I would just say that this chapter is just for introducing my characters I made up. Please comment or ask any questions :) In this chapter we finally meet Bad Bill and his gang. yay! enjoy :)**

We all mounted our roadrunners and rode back toward home. Rango talked to Beans in the front. I was trying to ride in the back, but the posse wanted me to ride with them. I sighed and came up next to them. They talked to me and asked me random questions. I tried to keep up with all of it but couldn't seem to. The posse liked me, I was happy for that, but now, I just wanted to be left alone.

The dirt taste was still in my mouth. I carefully reached down and grabbed my canteen. I took a mouthful of water, and swished it around. I spat the water out over to my left side.

We kept riding on and arrived back into town when the sun was sinking low over the mountains. Then the sun was completely swallowed up and the clouds turned from amber to plum. Darkness engulfed the sky. I took my sunglasses off. We all slowed our roadrunners and carefully strolled into the town. I saw the sign we passed by earlier. The town's name was Dirt.

Priscilla greeted us at the entrance. She remembered that she forgot to ask my name before I left. "Banshee," I told her smiling. We tied the reins of the roadrunners to the posts and headed into the saloon for a drink. "Drinks are on me," said Rango cheerfully, everyone cheered and all shuffled into the saloon. I was the last heading in.

We all sat down at the bar stools and ordered a drink. I ordered a glass of water since there was nothing I liked on the menu. The fourteen year old grey rabbit handed me my drink with his right arm, while his left rested on the countertop. I looked down at his left arm. My eyes widened. his left arm was gone, in its place was a foot long metal rod with a corkscrew at the end. They were both tied together by some string. He noticed me staring at his corkscrew arm. I averted my eyes away. He didn't seem upset and looked up at me.

"I lost my arm when I was little," he said with a small, sad smile. "A couple of gunslingers tried to hurt me and my family. One of the gunslingers tried to shoot me," The grey rabbit's mouth turned upward into a small smile. "But, instead, it ricochetedfrom my arm and hit one of the gunslingers. That's how I got my name," he said pointing to himself and straightening up proudly.

I looked at him. "Ricochet?" I asked. The rabbit boy smiled and nodded. I stared at him for a minute, then back to his corkscrew arm. _Unfortunately, his arm had to be amputated off, from the lack of blood, ripped tissues, and bone fractures, _I thought.I didn't really believe his story of how he lost his arm, but I decided not to say anything.

Ricochet told me when Buford had to go on a mission with Rango and the others, he was left in charge of the saloon. He used the corkscrew to uncork the bottles and served drinks to the customers. Everyone in the bar really liked him.

Just then, a couple of men came in through the saloon doors. "Two glasses of cactus juice, Ricochet," answered one of the customers. "Comin' right up sirs," said Ricochet smiling and got out a spiked green bottle of cactus juice. He uncorked the bottle with his corkscrew arm and poured two glasses.

The men sat at the end of the bar. When Ricochet was done pouring he pushed the two glasses to them. The glasses slid down the counter to the end where the men sat. They caught the sliding glasses and smiled.

"Thanks Ricochet," said one of the men, raising his glass to the one armed rabbit. Ricochet smiled, then turned his head to me. Of course, I watched him prepare the glasses like a pro, and was pretty impressed.

"Not bad, how long did that take you to do that?" I asked him, then looked at his corkscrew arm. Ricochet shrugged, "I dunno, a couple of weeks, it's not that hard," he answered and continued wiping down the counter. I nodded, then looked down at my glass of water.

Suddenly, everyone went quiet when gunshots were heard outside. Instantly, a gang of gunslingers came through the swinging doors. They had their guns raised high and were laughing as they came in. The gunslinger in front, I'm guessing was the leader, was a Gila Monster. He wore a dark brown hat, a dirty white shirt, and worn jeans held up by suspenders.

Next came a strange looking rodent. He wore a sombrero on his head and wore a belt with two gun holsters at his sides. Across his chest were two ammo holders, crossing each other like an X. A serape was wrapped around him. On his feet, he wore black cowboy boots.

After him came in two jackrabbits. Both of their ears drooped. One was short and stumpy looking, and wore a big white hat, and a sleeveless shirt. A dirty, yellow bandana was knotted at his neck. He wore two belts with holsters on each side at his waist.

The other was a little taller. He was the only one who didn't wear a hat. My eyes kept going back to the taller rabbit. I stared at him. His shoulders hunched forward, with a hump instead of a normal back. A hunchback. He wore an orange coverall under a dark blue long sleeve shirt. Chunks of light brown colored fur sprouted from the holes in his shirt and orange coverall. He wore black baggy pants held up by suspenders and a belt around his waist. His matted, stringy, dirty, blond hair fell over his wild, wide eyes, where pinkish, violet bags hung under them.

When they stopped laughing and shooting, their heads turned. They stared at me. I froze. The Gila Monster narrowed his eyes, but his mouth curved upward into a sly smile. "Well, well, well, what do we 'ave 'ere?" he asked. The rodent and two rabbits bared their teeth and snarled. My ears went back in fear. The gang approached me with mischief and anger in their eyes. The Gila Monster stopped in front of me. My dress touched his huge stomach. He loomed over me and leaned his ugly face close to mine.

"There's a newbie in the bar boys," said the Gila monster. The gang snickered mischievously. Rango cleared his throat and got in between me and the gunslingers. "Bill, I don't want you or your gang causing any trouble, I'm warnin' you this once. Don't harass Banshee here… and at least give some personal space, please." said Rango, putting his hands up in front of his chest.

The Gila Monster, now named, Bill, glared down at Rango. "Banshee? What the hell kind of a name is that?" asked Bill, as he pushed Rango out of the way and glared down at me again. I shrunk down lower in my seat. A voice spoke up. "I-it's a female spirit!" said Waffles in the back. The members of Bill's gang looked at me nervously and took a step back. Bill was still in my space. Ricochet spoke up from behind me nervously. "S-she's not technically a s-spirit, she just has the wail like a B-Banshee," the boy explained. "Can send an object clear across the horizon," said someone in the back, I'm guessing was Spoons

"Is that so?" said Bill, sounding a little bit more interested. I didn't say anything as I stared wide eyed up at them in horror. The gunslingers grinned. They enjoyed seeing fear in people's eyes. After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, the men licked their lips thirstily, remembering why they were at the saloon in the first place. The gang shoved some of the people off the stools to sit at the bar next to me, completely ignoring everyone. The hunchback rabbit sat next to me on my left when I turned myself back around to face the bar. I turned my head to him.

Ricochet served the gunslingers their drinks, he averted his eyes from them. The hunchback jackrabbit grabbed the glass and licked his lips greedily. His dirty pink nose twitched a bit. Then his wild, wide eyes flickered to the side. He turned his head to me. He noticed me looking at him and glared angrily at me.

"Vhat are you gawkin' at?" he snapped. He had a German accent. I quickly looked away, but then turned my head back to him. Ricochet poured more alcohol into their drained glasses. It was dead silent in the saloon as the outlaws drank.

The stumpy looking rabbit tapped the taller rabbit's shoulder, making the taller rabbit turn his head to him. The stumpy rabbit pointed at me. The taller rabbit turned his head back to me, noticing I was still staring at him. The taller jackrabbit growled angrily. At lightning speed, he quickly stood up, causing his stool to fall over.

"You've got a problem vith me?" he snapped angrily. All the citizens in the bar jumped at his shout. I trembled in fear. "N-no-" I said. The hunchback jackrabbit snarled "I zink you do!" he yelled. His right hand shot forward, gripping my neck tightly and pulling me closer to him. His left held a gun. Everyone in the bar gasped.

The taller rabbit pointed the barrel right next to my head. He snickered. His mouth turned up into a wide grin. His eyes were filled with insanity. Bill and the other two gunslingers didn't even bother turning around. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I struggled in his grasp.

Instantly, everyone in the bar whipped out their guns and aimed them at the jackrabbit. Bill, the stumpy rabbit and the shrew's ears perked up. They swivelled around in their seats. Their eyes widened. Twenty-five against four, not a good idea. The gang slowly raised their arms and moved their way out. They cautiously walked backwards to the saloon doors. Before we knew it, they bolted. The rusty hinges on the saloon doors squeaked and moaned.

The hunchback jackrabbit still stood in the middle of the saloon. His furry hand gripped my neck tightly. I struggled in his grasp, kicking helplessly, my lungs screamed for air. He snarled. His eyes shifted to all the guns that were aimed at him. Suddenly, when his head was turned, someone smacked him upside the head with a wooden chair.

The jackrabbit screamed in pain. His fingers loosened around my neck and I collapsed to the floor. The rabbit held his head, but wasn't able to hold himself up much longer. He swayed a bit before collapsing right next to me. I jolted and quickly got up. He was knocked out cold. I could hear everyone breathing heavily in the room. We all stared down at the unconscious jackrabbit, sprawled on the floor.

Rango, Elgin, and Sergeant Turley, helped up the unconscious jackrabbit and carefully dragged his body out of the saloon, down the street, and to the jail. Everyone started talking again and went back to drinking. I didn't move as I watched the unconscious hunchback jackrabbit till he was out from my sight.

_The next morning…_

I woke up feeling sore. I rubbed my eyes with one wing and grabbed my sunglasses off the counter with the other. I was back in the same room that I woke up in before. The morning light came in. I found my clothes I wore when I entered this town folded up at the edge of my bed. I slipped into them, careful to not hit my bandaged wing. When I was done, I walked into the bathroom. A huge, oval mirror sat on the wall above the sink.

I took a good look at myself. My hair was dark brown. A pair of light brown bat ears peaked out from the top. The fur on my face and body was a very light, pale brown. My nose slightly came up like a snout and flattened against my face and my eyes were yellow with a thin black slit in both. They looked almost like cat eyes…very demon like. Surprisingly, I didn't recognize myself. I stood there for a minute, looking at the strange, freakish looking bat in the mirror. I shook my head. I decided to not dwell on how I looked, and washed my face with cold water in the sink.

When I was ready, I went downstairs. The creatures who let me stay for free in the one room, was a family of rodents. Four in all. The mother of the family, Mrs. Rodent, greeted me. She held a young six month old in her arms. It was a girl, named Petunia.

"Good Morning, Banshee," said Mrs. Rodent. "Morning," I said with a smile. "Babbi!" said Petunia happily and reached for my ears as I walked by. "Babbi!" she said again, this time she succeeded and pulled my furry pale brown ear. I yelped and stopped in my tracks. "Oh dear, no Petunia, let go of Banshee's ear," she said, trying to pry the strong baby's paws from my ear.

"Babbi! Babbi!" said Petunia happily and started to tug on my hair. I couldn't really understand baby, but I was sure she sort of knew my name, but since she couldn't say my name, she just said _Babbi. _Finally, Petunia let go of my ear and hair. She fell asleep in her mother's arms. I rubbed the top of my head and the tips of my ears. Then I continued to the table where the father, Mr. Rodent, and the oldest son, Stub sat. Stub was twelve years old. He wore a small dirty pair of overalls. His hair was matted and dark colored. His fur was a dark shade of brown, just like everyone else in his family.

I sat down next to him. Mrs. Rodent served me scrambled roadrunner eggs and beans. A glass of water stood next to the plate of food. I salted the eggs and took a forkful in my mouth. The food wasn't that bad. When I was done eating, I drained my glass. I thanked them for the warm meal, and headed outside.

"Mornin' Banshee," said a townsperson as I stepped out onto the main street of the town. I smiled and said good morning back. As I walked along, more of the townspeople who passed by me said good morning. I was in a good mood today. Everyone in the town now knew who I was, even though I didn't know who _I _reallywas, but the town was really nice and helped me start over.

I spotted Priscilla bounding along to the sheriff's office, and quickly jogged over to her. "Hey Priscilla," I said. Priscilla's eyes widened with excitement when she saw me. "Mornin' Banshee! What are you doin' here? You comin' to see the sheriff as well?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess, but I was also wondering, since, you've been here longer then the sheriff right? You know what I mean?" I asked her. She nodded, "What do you want to know?" she asked, smiling. I looked around, then looked back at her. "I was wondering if you could tell me about Bad Bill and his gang," I said. Priscilla's smile faded. "Oh, those jerks? There's not much to tell. They're just a couple of low life criminals who come into town to hurt people and drink," she said.

"What are their names?" I asked her. Priscilla placed one of her hands under her chin and thought for a minute. "The leader's name is Bad Bill, the rodent with the sombrero is Chorizo, the rabbit with the white hat is Stump, and the hunchback rabbit's name you insulted last night is Kinski," she said. I narrowed my eyes.

"I didn't insult him! I was just looking at him, he just got all upset for some reason…and how do you know?" I asked. Priscilla adjusted the black hat on her head. "I was watching the whole time from my room," she said and pointed at her house, which was ironically across from the saloon. "Oh," I said, looking up at her house.

Priscilla lowered her hand and turned to me. "You're lucky he didn't kill you, he's more psychotic then the others," said the ten year old little girl.

Just then, Sheriff Rango came out of his office. "Good mornin' girls, what are you up to today,?" he asked us, smiling. Before either of us could answer, we heard a loud roar from inside his office/ the jail. I jumped from the loud roar. It was Kinski. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was thrashing around wildly inside his cell. I flinched in fear as I heard the sounds of screaming and banging against the iron bars. Priscilla turned back to Rango and started asking him something. I took one last look at the jail and walked off. Priscilla's words kept repeating in my head:

"_You're lucky he didn't kill you, he's more psychotic then the others,"_

As I walked further away from the jail, I could still hear Kinski's cursing and screaming. Psychotic. The thought made my stomach turn and feel sick. I decided to push the thought away as walked into the saloon.


	5. Chapter 5

_Priscilla's Point of view (POV)..._

"_Well, I'm off. Go run along and play, Priscilla," said Rango after their conversation. Priscilla said goodbye to Rango as he headed off down the street. She watched him till he was gone. She smiled mischievously. She was up to something today. She had been planning it since yesterday. Priscilla turned her head out toward the open desert. She was going to go off and explore the abandoned mines. _

_Priscilla looked around. There was barely anyone up at the time, so it was perfect. It was her favorite place to hangout. She never went down into the mines since the mines were off limits to everyone in the town, (because of all the horrible accidents that happened there in the past) She was good, and knew better, but the abandoned mines called to her, and today was the day to explore them._

_Priscilla ran back to her house to grab some supplies: a couple of matches, a lantern, and a canteen of water. She slowly opened the door and carefully peaked out. Priscilla's nose twitched, her tail swished. Then she quickly ran out of the house. _

_She didn't look back to see if anyone noticed her. She was on a mission. _Those abandoned mines are itchin' to be explored,_ she thought to herself. The mines were a half a mile away from the town down in a small narrow canyon. Priscilla didn't have any friends, but she didn't care. She had the mines all to herself. _

_Priscilla arrived at the canyon -like mines. There was three different ways to get down to where the mines entrance was. One was an old ladder, the other was a rusty elevator, and the last was a pathway that slowly snaked down to the bottom. _

_Priscilla never trusted the ladder or the old elevator. She knew that the ropes and wood have rotted away over the years and were ready for someone dumb enough to use them and then fall to their deaths. The canyon was a good thirty to forty feet down. Priscilla walked over to the pathway and casually walked down the lazy twisting path. Thick, long wooden beams crisscrossed and supported each other to keep the canyon up and to not all of the sudden break down and cave in. _

_The sun was now almost in the middle of the sky. The hot rays hit inside the canyon, lighting the inside to make the sandy walls glow a reddish orange color. _

_Priscilla wasn't sure what she would find down in the mines. She was hoping to find something cool like dynamite, or if she was lucky, some valuable minerals, or gold! The thought of finding gold made her walk a little faster down the trail. Pricilla walked up to the entrance of the mines. It was boarded up by a couple of wooden boards. One of them had red paint with the words: Keep Out! _

_Priscilla ignored the sign and started to pry the boards away from the mouth of the tunnel. When she was done. She took a quick look down it. Inside was pitch black. A cold wind blew. Priscilla shivered. Then she took out her batch of matches, took out one, and struck it. She lit the lantern and held it up by the thin, metal handle._

_The lantern let off a warm glow and lit five feet of the inside of the tunnel. Priscilla looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind her and was going to stop her from going into the mines. Seeing that there wasn't, she took a deep breath and entered the mines. _

_She breathed steadily. The inside of the mines smelled of sand and dirt. The ground had a mine cart rail road track heading down into the darkness. Inside was a little harder to breathe. The cold wind blew into Priscilla's face. Her skirt rustled a bit. Her huge eyes looked along the curving walls of the tunnel. Beams supported the tunnel. Above were burnt out hanging lanterns. She kept walking till the one tunnel split into two different directions. One of the tunnels was blowing the cold wind. The other wasn't. _

_She decided to go on to the tunnel that was blowing the cold wind. It calmed her. She went down the chosen tunnel. It bended slightly to the right. The tunnel stretched on till it hit an opening. A huge blast of cold air hit her and then settled down. Priscilla blinked a couple of times and then focused. _

_The opening was the core of the tunnels. Light came in through the small holes in the ceiling. She was one story above looking out to the other tunnels that also had mine cart railroad tracks. Below, on the bottom was where the storage mining supplies were. Mining carts were scattered everywhere. Some filled with rocks and dirt. Others were empty. Boxes of dynamite were next to some shovels. Priscilla smiled happily. She was going to find a lot of fun things down here. _

_She was just about to head down when all of the sudden, she heard voices. The one tunnel at the bottom started to glow. Someone was coming! Priscilla quickly snuffed out her light and hid in the shadows._

"_I hate this place, can't we hangout somewhere else?" asked a voice. "No! this place is perfect! It's abandoned, it's quiet, and that stupid sheriff ain't around!" yelled a different voice. Priscilla gasped. She recognized the voices instantly. It was Bill and his gang, but how did they get here? They must have known a different way into the mines. _

_Bill, Stump, and Chorizo appeared. Priscilla looked down at them, but was careful to not be seen. "So, boss, what was it that you wanted to tell us?" asked Chorizo, looking around at the tunnels. Priscilla froze, hoping he didn't see her as he scanned the huge room. _

"_Why are you bringing us in this room anyway?" asked Stump, looking up at Bill. Bill growled. "Can't you two just shut it and listen!" he shouted. His voice echoed, making parts of the ceiling crumble and fall. Chorizo and Stump jumped out of the way when a huge chunk crashed in front of them. They closed their mouths and looked up at Bill. Bill grunted and continued. "_

_I have a plan," he said, "A plan that I have been working on for months." Bill started walking over to a door in the wall next to him. "I have brought you two here, so you know what the plan is; behind this door, is what is going to help us take over Dirt," finished Bill smiling slyly. Bill opened the door. Inside, from floor to ceiling, were hundreds and hundreds of crates. _

_The gang gasped. Priscilla gasped. Priscilla's gasp was a little louder then the gang's, causing it to echo. Priscilla quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. _Oh no! what have I done? _She screamed in her head. Bill and the gang heard the echoes and looked around the huge room. _

_Chorizo growled and sniffed the air. His mustard colored eyes darted around the room. It was quiet for a minute. Priscilla held her breath. Finally, Chorizo stopped looking around. He gripped the lantern tightly in his hands as he slowly walked over to the tunnel on the other side of the room and disappeared through it. Bill and Stump watched him go through the tunnel till he was gone. They looked at each other and shrugged. _

_Priscilla's heart pounded fast. _I have to get out of here! _she said in her head. Panicking. She slowly got up and cautiously walked backwards. Watching Bill and Stump, to make sure they wouldn't see her. Then she turned around and started running blindly through the tunnel, not bothering to light her lamplight. _

_Suddenly she bumped into something, causing her to fall backwards onto the hard ground and tracks. She shook her head and looked up into the darkness. A lantern lit up. Chorizo's face appeared in the light. Priscilla gasped. Chorizo smiled evilly._

"_Well, well, well, look what I found," he said, revealing a mouth full of rotten, yellow teeth. Then he grabbed Priscilla by the arm and dragged her back down where he came. "Let go of me! Let go!" Priscilla snapped. She struggled, but Chorizo's grip was too strong. His hand gripped her arm tighter. _

_Chorizo shoved Priscilla in front of him. She fell to the ground. Bill and Stump looked down at Priscilla and then looked up at the shrew. "Found _senorita_ Prissy here in one of the tunnels, possibly spyin' on us," said Chorizo, pointing at Priscilla. Priscilla slowly got up and brushed the dirt off her skirt. _

_Then she looked up nervously at the three outlaws. "What do you say we do to her, boss?" asked Chorizo smiling evilly, one of his eyes twitching. Stump grabbed her arm and shoved a gun into her face. Priscilla's eyes widened and froze in fear. Stump grinned, "I say we see how much she heard about our forming plan and decide whether to let her go, or keep her hostage," he said laughing softly. _

"_P-please, I d-don't know anythin' ab-bout your guy's p-plan," Priscilla whimpered. Tears brimming in her eyes. Chorizo and Stump looked up at Bill. Bill waved his hand. Stump snarled, but let go of Priscilla's arm. Priscilla scurried off, as fast as her little legs could carry her. _

_The gang watched the little girl till she was out of sight. "Did you believe her, boss? About not knowing about our plan?" asked Chorizo. Bill shook his head. "No, but she's the least of our worries," said Bill. Stump narrowed his eyes up to Bill. "And what about Kinski?" he asked. Bill waved his words away. "We'll break him out of the jail later, but for now, lets just worry about the plan I have in store for that stupid sheriff and Dirt," growled Bill angrily._

* * *

"Rango! Sheriff Rango!" yelled Priscilla as she came running into town and down the street. Rango heard his name and quickly ran outside to see what all the commotion was about. I came out from the saloon and watched the two.

"Priscilla! What's wrong?" he asked and ran to her. Priscilla saw him and ran up to him. "Bad Bill! His gang! Plan!" she huffed out. Breathing fast. "Ok, ok, calm down," He told her. She did. Her high breaths slowly came down to short calm breaths. "Bad Bill and his gang are up to something, something big!" she said. "What do you mean?" he asked her. "I don't know, but it's not-". Priscilla started, but then tilted her head to the right.

She looked behind Rango. Rango turned his head to where she was looking. Kinski stood at the barred window of the jail with his furry hands gripping the iron bars tightly. His wide eyes staring at them. His droopy ears seemed raised up a bit, listening in on their conversation. Rango stared at the hunchback jackrabbit, then gently pushed Priscilla away from the jail and down the street. I walked out of the bar and followed down the street after them.

Rango and Priscilla kept walking till Rango assumed that they were out of earshot from Kinski. Priscilla told Rango, what happened. "You were in the mines?" asked Rango starting to get a bit angry after she finished the story. Priscilla's ears went back and she looked down at the ground sadly. "Yes, I know it wasn't right, but I wanted to explore it. Please don't tell anyone I did, I would be in so much trouble," said Priscilla looking up at Rango with huge teary eyes. Rango's angry face softened.

"You are already in trouble…but I will let this one go, and I promise not to tell anyone. Even Banshee promises, right, Banshee?" asked Rango. One of his eyes turned and looked at me while the other looked at Priscilla. I jumped, "Oh! Yes, of course," I said. Priscilla smiled up at us and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Later on, Rango gathered the posse and we all stood inside the saloon. Rango told his posse just what Priscilla told us. He left out the part how she was in the mines. Instead, he said that she overheard them when they were behind her house last night. When he was finished, everyone started talking.

"How are we going to know their plan?" asked Sergeant Turley. "Yeah, we can't just ask them what they're up to," said Elgin. "Yeah, can't just ask them," repeated Waffles. Everyone muttered amongst themselves till everyone fell silent, trying to think of a plan that would work.

Wounded Bird raised his wing, braking the silence. "Only one way. One of us join Bill's gang," said Wounded Bird. Suddenly, as if it were rehearsed, everyone's heads all slowly to me. "No," I said, my eyes widening and putting my wings up in front of me. "Banshee, you are the only one who has to do it, you are new and they barely know you," said Doc. "I can't-" I started. "Well, how else are we gonna know about their plan? You are the only one who can do it," Beans said.

I opened my mouth to protest, but then closed it. My stomach churned. Beans was right. I was the only one. Bill knew everyone in the town, except me. He doesn't know who I am or anything about me. All he knows, is that I'm a bat with a weird name. I rubbed my wings nervously.

_Bill is going to kill me, i'm not going to last five minutes... _I thought. I sighed,and looked up at Rango, "If i'm going to try to join, how am I going to convince them?" I asked. The posse exchanged glances. Rango exchanged glances with Beans, then looked back at me and rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard from across the street. Everyone all walked out of the saloon doors and looked down the street. Loud clanging sounds of metal was heard from the town's jail. Kinski screamed and cursed loudly in his cell. Rango and I exchanged glances, thinking the same thing.

* * *

**dun dun dun! chapter 5 is finished. :) **


	6. Chapter 6

Night came. Kinski was wide awake in his cell. A small lantern glowed in the jail so I was able to see him. I carefully snuck up to the barred window. I hesitated. _If I set him free, he may attack me again,_ I thought in my head. I looked down at the ground for a moment, then sighed in frustration. _It's the only way to convince the gang that I'm on their side… the only way to save everyone in the town. _I looked back up and stared through the bars to Kinski again_. _

The light gave him a sinister appearance. The dark shadows fell across his eyes as he sat there, hunched over. He stared down in his hands. I looked down and noticed something in them. A small red ball and ten metal jacks. They clinked against together.

I stared down at them for a minute. It was strange seeing a grown psychotic rabbit with a bunch of jacks in his hands. I averted my eyes from the jacks and gazed up at Kinski' shadowed face. He seemed scared... almost like a scared child. I cocked my head as I stared at him.

Suddenly, his head turned to me. I jumped. He noticed me at the barred window and sneered. I blushed, but quickly collected myself before he noticed. He glared at me. A low growl was heard from him, like a wild creature, warning the other to back off.

I narrowed my eyes and didn't say anything as I took a step back. As I did, I thought back when the posse asked me to scream at the boulder. The scream was so powerful, it made a huge crater in the earth. _Could it work again? Could I scream at a wall and take it down? Only one way to find out. _

Kinski raised an eyebrow at me. He placed his game into his pocket and stood up. I took a deep breath and screamed at the wall and barred window. Chunks of wall and rods of iron exploded. Kinski jolted backwards but regained his balance. Bits of cement wall smacked up against him but he ignored it. After the dust settled, he looked up and stared at me in disbelief.

Suddenly, all the lights in the town came on. The citizens looked out their windows. Kinski snapped out of his state of shock. He quickly bolted down the street and out of town. I followed after him. Gasps and shouts were heard behind me as the townspeople saw the damage in the jail. I didn't look back as I kept running. When Kinski and I finally made it out of the town, Kinski noticed me following him and slowed to a walk.

"Who Ze hell are you?" he asked in his German accent as I caught up with him. I narrowed my eyes. "Who the hell do you think I am?" I asked back angrily. I started to regret saying that, I didn't want him to hate me. Kinski growled. His left hand reached down near his side. He gasped and looked down, realizing that he forgot to grab his gun, which was still back at the jail. He cursed up a storm and kicked a rock. I stayed a good distance away from him.

Finally, Kinski lowered his arms and sighed angrily. He gave me a disgusted look and continued walking. I followed after him. He turned his head, noticing I was still following him. He walked faster. I walked faster. He spat the ground angrily. I After a couple minutes, he finally slowed down. I walked next to him, but was cautious. His jacks clinked in his pocket. He didn't seem upset that I was following him after that. I'm sure he was grateful for getting him out, but didn't want to admit it.

We kept walking till we found the abandoned mines. It was down in a small canyon. We walked around it to the other side. The land sloped down till it went to a dip and went back up. Kinski stopped at the bottom of the steep dip. A mine entrance stuck out from a huge dirt mound. He stopped and turned to me. He thought of saying something, but decided to not as he motioned his hand from me to the entrance. "Come on," he said, sighing in frustration. I ducked my head and walked in.

I shivered as the icy cold wind sliced through me through the small tunnel. The tunnel opened up into a huge room. It wasn't the room that Priscilla described, it was the room the gunslingers hung out in and lived in. There was a couple of stolen goods in boxes, old sofas, worn clothes and scattered wanted posters. It was like a tornado went through it. Bill, Stump, and Chorizo were sitting at a table, playing cards.

When they heard us come in, they jerked their heads up. "Kinski? What are you-?" asked Stump in surprise. Kinski escaped out of the town's jail. All three gunslingers' eyes widened when they noticed me. Kinski pointed to me. "She got me out," he said. The gang's mouths dropped. They stared at me from their chairs.

"The bat?" asked Chorizo. Kinski nodded, just as his eyes flickered to a discarded gun resting on the arm of a couch. He retrieved it and lifted it up to his left droopy ear. He gave the cylinder a spin. A series of clicks was heard. Kinski's mouth curled up into a creepy grin as he placed the gun into his empty holster.

I looked away from Kinski and back to the other gang members. Their eyes were still glued to me. Bill's eyes were the only ones that were narrowed. I fumbled with my bandaged wings nervously as Bill got up from his chair and approached me.

Stump and Chorizo got up from their chairs and stood next to Kinski. They started whispering something to him, but I couldnt hear. I stood frozen to the spot as Bill's eyes went up and down my body. He stopped and bared his teeth. "Did she say _why_ she saved you?" Bill asked Kinski. Kinski looked at Bill. "No," he said.

Bill snarled, still glaring at me.

"You don't look like the outlaw type," Bill muttered. I kept myself from trembling. _Bill doesn't trust me_. I had to think of something fast. I bared my sharp teeth. My fangs jutted out. "There's more to then what meets the eye," I said through my clenched teeth.

Chorizo, Kinski, and Stump's eyes widened. They took a step back in fear. Bill just gave me an unimpressed look, but I saw fear in his eyes as well. My bared teeth turned upward into a creepy grin_. _Bill hesitated, but held his ground. My hardened face relaxed. I straightened up, still with the grin on my face. "Well, now that we got _that _straightened out, I was wondering if I could join your…little gang, heard you guys were the talk of the town," I lied, not sure if it really was true or not. The gang exchanged glances.

Bill finally found his voice. "We don't normally allow girls into the gang," he said. My smile disappeared. I raised an eyebrow, "Don't usually allow girls in, huh?" I shook my head. Bill sneered as he fingered his gun. I felt the blood drain from my face. I tilted my head upward to Bill, pretending i didnt notice the gun.

"Is there a test girls have to pass to join?" I asked. Bill didnt say anything. After a couple seconds of silence, Bill's scrunched up reptile face cracked a smile. Something sparked in his eyes…something mischievous.

"Oh… yes…nothin' big. Just a... simple task," he said, snickering. Bill's gang looked at each other confusingly. "What task, Bill?" asked Stump. Bill turned his head to his confused comrades. "We're going to give her a _very_ challenging test," he said in a harsh tone. Then he turned back to me, "_Then_ we'll see if she's worth joining our _little gang_," he finished, smiling slyly. Bill had something up his sleeve, and it wasn't going to be good.

* * *

I fumbled with my bandaged wings nervously as we rode in a wagon to Balthazar's place. Kinski, Chorizo, Stump, and I rode in the back of the wagon as Bill drove in the front. He whipped the reins. The boar, that was attached to the wagon, grunted and quickened its' pace. I stared down at my wings.

The task wasn't really what I had in mind, nor it was simple. I had to sneak in, steal a bat, and get out…without getting caught. It seemed impossible. At least it was one instead of five or fifty, but still, there was a million bats, a thousand prairie dogs, and one me. One false step and I'm dead.

The ride along the way was quiet. The gang didn't really want to talk to me. I didn't care. A lantern sat in the middle of the wagon so we could see each others faces. The gang would sometimes look at me, but then look out at the dark desert scenery.

After a couple of hours of silence, Chorizo and Stump couldn't take it any longer and broke the eerie, awkward silence. "Why do they call you Banshee again, _senorita_?" asked Chorizo in his Spanish accent. I turned to him, "because my screams are powerful enough to send objects hundreds of yards away," I answered trying to sound like it was no big deal.

"Can you do it anytime you want?" asked Stump. I nodded. He looked out to the scenery and pointed at a boulder. "Can you scream at that?" he asked. I slowly moved over to the other side next to Stump so I could get a better shot. The gang watched. I took a deep breath and screamed at it. A couple sonic waves erupted and made contact with the boulder.

Instead of flying through the air, it exploded into a million pieces. The scream startled the boar and jolted the wagon a bit. "Hey! Quiet down back there!" snapped Bill as he tried calming down the startled boar. Chorizo, Kinski, and Stump ignored it as they stared wide eyed at what was once left of the boulder.

Their mouths hung open. I sat back down. Stump and Chorizo scooted away from me, afraid of ending up just like the boulder_. At least I convinced them_, I thought to myself, shrugging that I wasn't able to send the boulder a couple feet away.

After a couple minutes of awkward silence, Stump and Chorizo started talking to me again. Kinski stayed quiet. He would sometimes listen in, but sometimes doze off or drink some alcohol from one of the bottles in the wagon.

We rode on, even when the sun came up. Bill would stop the wagon and let the boar rest as Chorizo, Stump, Kinski and I would get up and walk around, stretching our legs. Then we would get back in and ride on. My eyes felt heavy, but I didn't want to fall asleep, especially in a wagon full of gunslingers.

No one talked during the journey. The sun glared down on us. The gunslingers didn't seem affected to the sun, especially Kinski, who had longsleeve garments on, and on top of all that, he had thick fur. I placed my wings over my head to keep the heat from boiling my brain. I wasnt made for the heat.

The day wore on till the sun started to set. The sun gave off its last rays of golden light before it disappeared over the purple mountains. The white moon came out and billions of stars. We arrived at the Prairie Dog territory. Kinski Chorizo and Stump gripped the sides of the wagon nervously as they looked up at the canyon walls. We rode deeper and deeper into the canyon.

"We're here," muttered Bill as he pulled the reins. The boar stopped. We all jumped out and looked up at the carved out home where the bats and prairie dogs lived. "All right, the bats live at the very top, and some of 'em sleep in there, the others are off flyin' about," said Bill in a low voice. I nodded and started toward the carved out home.

* * *

"_Bill? Why did you want her to do this task? We almost died trying to get a bat last time we came here. Hell, almost died when we barely escaped!" pointed out Stump._"_I know, that's why I'm making her do it. She'll be one less person to worry about," said Bill. The gang went silent. _

"_Suppose she does make it out?" asked Kinski, breaking the silence. Bill faced the hunchback rabbit with fury in his eyes. "I don't care if she makes it out! It's a very high possibility she wont make it, and a very small possibility she will, so lets just leave it at that!" snapped Bill. _

"_Will you let her join our gang if she does?" asked Chorizo. Bill glared at Chorizo. Then he glared at the two jackrabbits. He scowled at them. "Do you guys really believe that she'll make it out?" asked Bill, his jaw clenched. The gang exchanged glances. "Well, she does have a good advantage with that scream ability she has," piped up Chorizo._

_ Bill glared at them. Outraged that his own gang members actually believed in the bat, and wanted her to make it out. "She is NOT going to make it out!" he roared at them. The gang jumped. Bill grunted and faced the canyon. His fat stubby arms crossed over his chest. _

_"How much do you bet?" asked Stump, breaking the silence. _

_..._

_After a half an hour of silence, and going back and forth on the decisions, Banshee came screaming out of the home, riding a bat. _"_Cough it up Bill," said Stump smiling slyly, extending his arm out for the cash. Bill grumbled and slapped Stump upside the head. Stump muttered angrily and rubbed his sore head. Then Bill started running toward the wagon. "Come on! We gotta get out of here!" he yelled. The gang all jumped on the back of the wagon and followed after Banshee. _

* * *

I screamed at the top of my lungs, also accidentally taking out the sides of the canyon as I rode on the bat. I looked down and noticed that the bat was painted in neon blue glow-in-the-dark paint. The paint went along the bat as an outline. Almost like a bat skeleton structure. A loud alarm went off.

I looked behind me and then noticed I was being followed by a swarm of other glow-in-the-dark bats. All in different neon colors and patterns. I guessed so the prairie dogs could recognize their bats at night. The swarm of bats screeched bitterly. I could hear Balthazar yelling at the top of his lungs. Giving orders to the riders. A group of bats came flying up next to me. I leaned forward.

My bat instantly went down and went down along the bottom of the canyon. Suddenly machine guns fired nonstop. Sparks flying from the machine. I steered my bat to dodge the bullets. I clung on to the fur of the bat's neck. It screeched in anger and confusion.

"_Who are you? What are you doin'?" _a voice asked.

"Huh? What? Did you talk?" I asked the bat as it went right side up and flew on.

"_Yes, I did, Who are you?" _it asked again. It was a female voice.

"It's sort of hard to explain at the moment," I said through gritted teeth as the group of bats flew near me. I forced the bat I rode to fly right. The bat flew alongside the canyon wall. The group of bats didnt have time to stop as they crashed into the canyon wall.

Suddenly explosions went off down below. I heard yelling and cursing. It was Bill and the gang. They were riding in the wagon. Their boar squealing in fear and running at top speed. I made the female bat go down and fly next to the wagon.

"Banshee!" yelled Stump and pointed. The others turned and saw me. I gave them a look, "Simple task, huh?" I said back to them sarcastically. Suddenly more explosions went off next to the wagon causing it to shake a little. "Just keep heading toward the exit!" yelled Bill. I nodded. The female bat flew higher up.

"_Why are you doin' this?" _the female bat asked again.

"I'll explain to you when we are through! Also how can I understand you?" I asked the bat as I dodged a canyon arch.

"_You are a bat, just like me, the question is, how come you're not flyin'?" _she asked.

"One of my wings is injured, got bitten from a coyote," I answered as we went higher up. Explosions of dynamite was heard behind me but I didnt look back. I heard Balthazar scream another order to a group of prairie dogs. "Boseefus! Jedadiah! Lasso that bat!" They all went after me.

I gripped the female bat's fur as she swerved around and through canyon formations. Suddenly my bat screeched as lassos wrapped around her neck and feet. We were going down. I could hear the prairie dogs laughing hysterically.

Suddenly, I felt my neck get lassoed and then jerked back. I screeched in pain as i clawed at the rope. My legs dug into the female bat's sides. A rock bridge exploded from my scream and came down on the bats behind us. Some got crushed, but some nearly made it. The rope was tightening around my neck. I felt myself slipping.

Just then, gunshots were heard from down below. One of the bullets snapped the rope that grasped my neck and I was free. I didnt have time to look down. I untied the rope around the female bat's neck. The other bullets hit the bats and the riders, causing the bats to zigzag and crash against the walls of the canyons. Neon explosions of color erupted. Machine guns and dynamite went off again. Some bullets nicked the female bat's wings. My bat screeched in pain and staggered a bit.

"What in tarnation!" yelled Balthazar. I turned my head around, noticing him right behind me, riding a bat. Then he hit the prairie dog who was shooting at my bat. "Ow! I-I'm sorry-" said the voice that belonged to the shooter. "Don't kill my bat!" Balthazar snapped. _Oh no! This was Balthazar's bat?_, I asked myself in my head. I felt my stomach twisting into thick knots. I leaned my head down near the female bat i rode. "Are you ok?" I asked Balthazar's bat.

"_No, I'm not!__" _she snapped. Instantly, she started screeching wildly and flapping her wings faster. I held on as she tried bucking me off and started to slow down and turn back.

I gritted my teeth as I used all my strength to steer her back. Balthazar's bat and I fought in mid air. Balthazar's bat jerked her head back. Her sharp teeth snapped at me. I moved away from her gapping mouth full of sharp teeth, but still held on. Balthazar's bat turned her head back and flew down. Her wings gradually folded. She was going to suicide and try to take me with her.

When I realized what she was trying to do, I quickly yanked her fur, causing her to screech in pain. Her wings came out from under her. She pulled up just in time and flew low over the ground. She flew up right behind the wagon. She jerked violently.

"I need some help! The bat won't cooperate!" I yelled to Bill and his gang. Stump and Chorizo turned to Bill, hesitant. Kinski was the only one who didn't hesitate. He quickly grabbed some rope and tossed one end to me. I tied my end around Balthazar's bat's neck as he tied his end to the wagon. Balthazar's bat struggled and kept flying right and left. The wagon jolted a bit from the bat's strength but was able to anchor her.

We were almost out of the canyon. More explosions went off. Balthazar's bat pulled and jerked some more. Suddenly, another explosion went off close to the wagon. Balthazar's bat screeched and swerved away as far as the rope let her. One of the back wheels broke off, making the wagon lopsided. The gang held on to the sides for dear life. "Banshee! Scream at them!" yelled Stump.

Another explosion went off and the other back wheel flew off, almost hitting me. Chorizo almost fell off the wagon when the wagon hit a small ditch. Then Bill, Chorizo, and Kinski also started yelling at me to screech at the swarm.

"_Don't do it! Please, whatever they are asking you to do. Please don't hurt my master and his family!" _begged Balthazar's bat.

"I'm sorry, I have to, or they'll kill us," I said. I turned my head to face the swarm of bats. I took a deep breath...and screamed at them. Huge sonic waves struck the whole swarm of bats and prairie dogs. They all were sent flying back and crashed into the ground and walls. An explosion of neon colors lit up the whole canyon. I quickly closed my eyes from the bright lights. It was like a fireworks display. I heard Bill and the gang laughing and whooping.

"_You better have a very good explanation why I shouldn't rip you to shreds!" _snapped Balthazar's bat.

"Don't worry, I do," I said. My stomach twisting. I felt sick and horrible inside. I held on tightly to Balthazar's bat as she was pulled forward by the long rope tied to the wagon. The canyon opened up and we made it out, alive. As we left the Prairie Dog territory, the pitch black sky started to slowly lighten up. The shades of black changed to lighter shades of black and grey.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up the next day sore and tired. I slowly sat up from where I slept, which was on the floor. I had a couple of blankets and a pillow. There was only three couches and a bed. Bill slept on the bed, while the others slept on the couches.

I thought that it was very unfair but Kinski, Chorizo, and Stump didn't seem to mind. The certain couches they slept on were their own. Their own personal belongings leaned up against the couches.

I blinked a couple of times and then rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Bill and the gang were still fast asleep. Stump's face was buried in his pillow. Drool seeped out from it. Chorizo snored softly and had one arm draped over his face. Kinski was sleeping on his stomach. He twitched and shifted. I slowly got up and tiptoed around the disarray and scattered assortments. I picked out two apples from a crate and disappeared through the tunnel that led to outside.

To the left of the entrance of the gang's hangout spot, about twenty to twenty-five feet away, was an old stable with a thatched roof that once held the miner's roadrunners when they came out from town to mine.

The stable was a perfect place to hold Balthazar's bat. It could hold up to fifteen road runners, so it was big enough for her. We tied Balthazar's bat to the stable so she wouldn't escape…and so we wouldn't have to hear her screeching and yelling the rest of the night.

She was sleeping from the rafters. The glow- in- the- dark skeleton pattern was invisible. You could barely tell where it was. Her fur was a mixture of grey, almost black. The areas that didn't have fur was like a dirty peach color. I walked to the stable. As I did I took a couple of bites from one of the apples. I rested my arms on the wooden fence.

Balthazar's bat heard me eating the apple and opened one dark brown eye.

"_What do you want?" _Balthazar's bat asked angrily.

I held out the untouched apple to her. Balthazar's bat sniffed the air. Cautiously, she slowly crawled along the rafters and to the supports that held the roof up. She blindly sniffed the apple and then reached out with one of her wings and grasped the apple. She climbed back up to her spot and ate the apple greedily. "I came to talk to you," I told her. Balthazar's bat finished the apple and spat out the parts she didn't like.

"_Yes, and you better have a very good explanation, tell me the whole story. Start from the very beginning," _she said.

So I did, just as I promised. I knew I could trust her with my story. I kept my voice low, just in case if the gang heard me. I told her how I found myself in the middle of the desert and didn't know where I came from or who I was. I told her how I got chased by the coyote which chased me to the town of Dirt. I told her about the posse, us visiting her place, and coming back and almost getting killed by the gang.

Balthazar's bat listened and didn't interrupt. I continued on and told her how Priscilla heard about Bill and his plan, also how I was the one who had to join his gang and find out. "And they said the only way I could join was to steal a bat… and you're the lucky one," I finished. Balthazar's bat thought for a minute. Her wings rubbed against her face and cleaned the bits of apple on her.

"_Well, I guess that is a very good explanation, but I'm still worried about my master and the prairie dogs. I hope you didn't kill them all," _she said bitterly.

My stomach turned and I felt like throwing up. I hated the feeling. I didn't want to know that I killed a whole group of people. "I hope I didn't kill them either," I said, finishing my apple and then tossed it to the ground.

"_Do you know why they wanted you to do this task? I mean, try and steal a bat?" _asked Balthazar's bat.

I thought for a minute, and shrugged. "I'm not sure, I think it was just a random task to see if I could do it and succeed," I said and then looked down, thinking. Then I looked back up. "Do you have a name?" I asked her.

"_My master, Balthazar, named me Kaliah. It means beloved; The perfect one,"_ Kaliah said. _"He loved me very much, I was his best friend. He could never part with me," _she added.

She was making me feel more and more guilty. I was trying to be nice, but all she was doing was rubbing it into my face. The task wasn't my idea. "I'm sorry, but when this is all over with, I promise I'll give you back to Balthazar," I said. Kaliah stared at me blindly. Gradually, her mouth came up into a somewhat happy smile. I smiled back, even though she couldn't see it, but I didn't care, I was glad she believed me. Kaliah's small smile disappeared. She started sniffing the air.

"_You got any more apples?" _she asked_. _

"No, sorry, but I'll give you more fruit-"

"Who are you talkin' to?" asked a voice behind me. I jumped and turned around. Kaliah started screeching and flapping her wings angrily.

It was Kinski.

He made his way up the hill and approached me. My throat tightened. Kaliah kept screeching. Kinski looked at me suspiciously. He looked around for the person I was talking to, but gave up when he didnt see anyone. Kinski came up and rested his arms on the fence next to me and looked up at Kaliah. "You were talkin' to ze bat, yes?" he asked in his German accent. I nodded, trying to not smile. "I can understand her. Her name's Kaliah," I said.

Kinski nodded and glared up at the bat who kept screeching. His nose twitched a bit. We stood there watching Kaliah flap around as far as the rope around her leg would let her.

Kinski's eyes flickered to me and he turned his head and noticed me looking at him. He took a step away from me and pulled out his gun. His eyes narrowed behind his bangs. He growled. I looked at the gun and my heart skipped a beat, but then, anger boiled inside me. "Oh just stop it! Hasn't anyone ever just looked at you without getting shot?" I asked angrily.

Kinski growled. "I shoot them because they look at me as a freak!" he yelled. Kaliah went silent. I glared at him. I was fed up with him. He was about to say something else but I interrupted him, "You are not a freak!" I shouted. Kinski opened his mouth to start yelling at me but then closed his mouth. His eyes widened to what I just said. I continued. "I don't see you as a freak, I think you are very…" my voice faltered. I felt the tips of my ears grow hot. "Interesting… and I'm just like you. Different," I said in a more calm, but stern voice.

Kinski looked at me for a minute. His face was somewhat surprised. _No one in his entire life has ever thought of him as interesting._ _He felt his face turning a bit warm in the cool morning. _He snapped out of his surprised state and narrowed his eyes at me, trying to read my face, to see if I was lying to him or not. After a couple minutes, his eyes relaxed. He slowly placed his gun back into the holster, and walked off down the hill back to the mines. I sighed with relief, but felt the sides of my face heating up. I turned and noticed Kaliah tilting her head in my direction. Blindly staring at me, her ears twitched. I looked away from her and walked down the dune, back to the mines.

* * *

The sun burned high in the sky as Kinski, Chorizo, Stump and I rode in the back of the wagon into town. Bill whipped the reins, making the boar quicken its' pace. I placed my wings over my head to shade myself from the sun. The gang was still tired from last night. They kept yawning and sometimes dozing off.

We finally made it to the town. We all jumped off when the wagon stopped and headed straight for the saloon. There was only three people in the saloon, but they quickly left when we entered through the saloon doors. Ricochet's eyes widened at me as I sat at one of the stools in front of him with Bill, Stump, Chorizo, and Kinski. "B-Banshee?" he gasped. I looked up at him and sneered. He jolted. The gang snickered as he averted his eyes from me and prepared our drinks. I lowered my head. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone in the town that I was only faking it, I had to convince them that I was an outlaw.

Ricochet placed five glasses of amber colored alcohol in front of us. The male gunslingers grabbed their glasses, emptying them in one gulp. All the blood drained from my face as I stared at them, then down at my drink. The liquid stared back at me. At the corner of my eye, I noticed Bill eyeing me suspiciously.

"Somethin' wrong with yer drink, girl?" he asked. I gave Bill a look, "No," then turned back to my drink. The male gunslingers watched as I slowly lifted the drink to my lips. The amber liquid burned down my throat. Tears came streaming down my tightly closed eyes as I drained the small glass. I quickly set the glass down and coughed. My tongue came out in disgust. The gang laughed at my disgusted face. Bill cracked a smile and laughed as well. I felt my face burn up in embarrassment as I coughed some more.

"Don't like ze taste, eh?" asked Kinski, placing his furry hand on my shoulder and snickered. My body tensed up. Ricochet cocked his head to me. I stared up at him. He tried reading my face. I had to do something fast. I needed to stay in character. I narrowed my eyes and slammed my curled up wing down on the table. The men stopped laughing. Kinski lifted his hand from my shoulder. The saloon went dead quiet. I snarled angrily at them.

"If any of you guys laugh one more time, you'll be finding yourself flying out the saloon doors!" I shouted. With that, I screeched, causing half the glass bottles and glasses in the room to shatter into a million pieces, proving my point. The gang gulped, scooting their stools from me.

"S-sorry B-Banshee, w-we wont do it again," stuttered Stump, shaking on his stool. Bill's eyes were wide. I sneered, then turned my focus to Ricochet. "Gimme a glass of water," I said firmly through clenched teeth. The gang didn't laugh. Ricochet nodded his head nervously and prepared me a glass. I grunted and straightened up in my stool. The gang averted their eyes from me, sipping their drinks silently. After that, we left the saloon and headed back.

_The next day…_

When the sun came up in the middle of the sky, we all headed into the wagon and rode to the town to the saloon. As I walked into the saloon, I noticed a couple citizens staring at me and whispering to each other. I looked away and headed in. I sat down at one of the empty stools at the bar and ordered a glass of water. Ricochet's hand shook as he tried pouring the glass of water. The liquid spilled out of the glass as he handed it to me. The gang snickered a bit. I didn't say anything as I drank. The gang didn't say anything either.

When we were done drinking, we walked out of the saloon and onto the dirt road. Bill and the gang harassed some people as they walked by. I could see the townspeople's faces full of fear and hatred. The gang called me over, wanting me to join the fun. I didn't want to, but I had no choice. I screamed at some of the townsfolk and watched them fly back ten feet. Every time I screamed, I felt my throat tighten as if I was hanging from a noose. The gang really enjoyed me screaming at the citizens and kept asking me to do it again.

Just then, Rango came out of his office. "What in the world are you guys doin'?" asked Rango angrily as he shifted his belt on his waist. Bill glared at him angrily. "What the hell does it look like?" asked Bill in annoyance. Rango scanned his eyes over to the gang and me. He shrugged, "I see that yer harassing the townsfolk. Pointless and pathetic if ya ask me…I see ya got a new recruit," he said eyeing me.

Bill turned his head to me, then back to Rango. "Yeah, so?" he asked. Rango just shrugged, then he changed the subject when he noticed me glaring at him. He was getting really close into blowing my cover. Rango cleared his throat and jutted his chin out. Rango opened his mouth, but Bill interrupted him. "Git yer ass out of our business!" Bill barked as he got right up into Rango's face. The gang snickered. I forced a laugh out.

Rango crossed his arms over his chest. "Bill? I am going to ask you nicely, I want you and your gang to stop harassing the townsfolk," demanded Rango in a steady voice. Bill growled, "I aint listenin' to you! Me and my gang can do whatever the hell we want! I own this town!" yelled Bill.

Rango snorted, "Yeah right, when pigs fly," he said. Bill grinned evilly, "We can have that arranged," he said. The gang laughed and shoved me forward. Bill stepped out of the way and gestured to let me go ahead and scream at Rango.

Rango looked at me. We both knew it had to be done. It was the only way to keep Bill, his gang, and the town believing that I was evil. Suddenly, I saw Priscilla running toward us. "Don't do it Banshee!" Priscilla yelled and ran in front of Rango. I gasped. Rango's eyes widened at Priscilla. He didn't know what to do. I hesitated.

"Go ahead Banshee, show them what you can do," said Bill behind me. "Yeah, show them, they're just a couple of wimperin' cowards," said Stump, coming up to the right of me. "Nothin' but a couple of scared, dim-wits," Kinski said, coming up to the left of me.

I hesitated. Rango picked up Priscilla and looked at me. He slightly nodded. I slowly took a deep breath, and screamed at them. The two creatures flew through the air and fell fifteen feet away from us. The gang laughed as Rango and Priscilla rolled down the road.

Rango still held Priscilla and helped her up. Priscilla's eyes were filled with tears. When she got up, she looked at me with a hurt expression. I felt my stomach churn uneasily. Priscilla hung her head sadly and slowly walked off. Rango gave us all one last look before walking off after Priscilla.

The gang didn't care and laughed at them. I just stood there, watching Rango and Priscilla walk down the road till they were out of sight. After a while of laughing hysterically, Bill calmed his laughing, "Come on, lets go," He said and started walking back to the wagon. We all followed right behind him.

The gang laughed as they slapped my back and played roughly with me. I just ignored them, feeling horrible. The image of Ricochet and Priscilla's shocked face was inked onto my brain. I sighed as we filed into the wagon, and headed back to the Abandoned Mines.


	8. Chapter 8

**Kinski goes insane in this chapter. Enjoy! :)**

The sun was already dipping low over the mountains and the thin pale moon was already out. We finally made it to our home. Bill and the gang drank bottles of alcohol and then passed out for the night. I ate whatever food there was in the crates and then fell asleep as well. As I slept, a horrible nightmare came to me. _I was being chased by the townspeople of Dirt. They screamed and shouted at me. I flapped my wings as fast as I could, but it was no use. The townspeople pulled their guns and rifles out and shot my wings. I screamed in pain as I came crashing down- _

I woke up gasping and sticky with sweat. I quickly moved the covers away from me and tried to slow down my breathing. I looked around to see if I woke anyone up. I didn't.

Bill and the gang were dead asleep. Bill stirred a bit, but then continued to snore loudly. Chorizo shifted over on his other side and didn't move after that. Stump and Kinski didn't move, except for some small movements of breathing. I got up, got a crate of fruit, and went outside.

It was still dark outside but I didn't mind as I walked up the hill to the stable. I was in charge of taking care of Kaliah since she wouldn't let the others come near her to touch her or feed her. The gang didn't care of her anyway. Kaliah's skeleton outline glowed brightly in the darkness.

"_You got fruit? Good, I'm starving," _said Kaliah as she came down from the beams and picked up the crate and went back upside down.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't come earlier, we were…hanging out in the town doing "evil things,"" I said with guilt in my stomach.

"_What did you do? Did they make you do it?" _asked Kaliah with a mouthful of fruit. She licked her lips and ate some more.

"I had no choice, I had to do it," I explained and told her what happened. "Priscilla now doesn't look at me as a hero anymore, she looks at me as a monster. I hate it! I hate this!" I said angrily and sat down on the ground. I buried my face in my wings. I felt my throat tighten and tears brimming my eyes. Kaliah dropped the empty crate. I heard it crash to the ground. I looked up at Kaliah. She rubbed her face with her wings

Cleaning off all the extra food and licking it up. I looked down at the ground. Banana peels, apple cores, and little grape branches littered the dirt ground below Kaliah where she hung upside down.

"_The sheriff and his posse didn't say it was going to be easy, and the townspeople can't know, or the plan wouldn't work. You are doing it to save them. Some sacrifices have to be made to make it work… or else you and the townspeople are goners," _said Kaliah.

I didn't say anything. Kaliah finished cleaning her face and licked her wings. I thought about what Kaliah said. _She's right. They didn't say it was going to be easy. I knew it wasn't going to be easy either, but I'm surprised I have made it this far. I thought I was going to get killed on the first day,_I thought to myself._ Some sacrifices have to be made in order for it all to work. Yes, I can't get Priscilla and Ricochet in on this, that would get too risky and possibly lose our lives. _I looked up at her. "You're right, I was chosen to do this to help them, so I must make them believe I am a bad person," I said. Then I stood up and rested my wings on the fence. "I just wish I could tell Priscilla and Ricochet," I sighed sadly. Kaliah nodded.

"_I know you do, but that would ruin everything, no one must know…well, except for that sheriff and his posse," _she said.

I sighed again, "Yeah, but I can't even go near them, or talk to them either," I said. "They know because it was their plan. Them on the outside, me on the inside, except I'm doing the hard part," I said. Kaliah shrugged.

"_You're doin' a pretty good job so far. You seem to be handlin' it pretty well," _she complimented.

I smiled, "Thanks, Kaliah. You're a good friend." Kaliah smiled back and nodded. Kaliah and I talked for a while longer till my eyelids started to get heavy. I said goodbye to Kaliah and headed back down the hill to the mines.

I entered the hideout and made my way back to were I slept. No one stirred. Just as I was laying down and pulling the scratchy cover up to my chin, I heard a faint groan. I turned over. Kinski shifted uncomfortably on his couch. He started muttering strange random things I couldn't understand. He was dreaming. His eyes were squeezed shut, as if what he saw, disturbed him. He kicked his legs, thus kicking the moth eaten sheets off him. He groaned and whimpered. As I watched him, I realized he was having a nightmare. He shifted and jerked violently.

Suddenly he screamed and opened his eyes. He sat bolt upright, gasping and heaving. He buried his face in his hands. I quickly closed my eyes, pretending to sleep. My ears twitched as I heard him sigh and get up from where he slept. I heard him get up and head to outside. I opened my eyes, just as he was pulling out his jacks from his pocket.

He disappeared through the tunnel. I laid there, staring at the black, gapping tunnel. I could hear his footsteps fading away till I couldn't hear them anymore. I felt my eyes get heavy. I wanted to get up and see if he was ok, but sleep got the better of me as I rested my head and fell fast asleep.

* * *

_The next day…_

We all arrived at the town and jumped off the wagon. Kinski was the last to jump off. His hair stuck up in all directions and his eyes were redder then before. "Are you ok, Kinski?" I asked him. Kinski ignored my question as he shouldered past me to the saloon. Stump came up from behind me.

"Don't worry about 'im, he's like that almost everyday," Stump explained and followed after him. "_Si. _He has problems sleepin'" said Chorizo as he passed by me after the two jackrabbits. I thought back to last night. Him having the nightmare. His violent thrashing. I started to wonder if he had nightmares all the time. I pushed the thought away as I walked in after them.

I pushed the saloon doors open and walked in and sat at the end of the bar. Kinski sat on the other side. He hunched over his drink and stared down at it. His tired eyes watched the amber colored liquid swirl around in his glass. His droopy ears lightly touched the counter. I stared at the dark colored bags under his eyes behind his bangs. He looked like he never had a decent sleep in years. His head would slowly lower, but then snap back up. Fighting with himself to not fall asleep on the spot. I felt sorry for him. The poor creature seemed trapped. Bill nudged Kinski's arm with his elbow. "You gonna drink that, boy?" he asked. Kinski didn't say anything as he stared down at the drink.

After waiting a couple seconds to answer, Bill carefully snaked his hand under Kinski's head to the glass. Kinski grabbed the glass before he could. He whipped his head around and growled loudly. He bared his sharp, rotting teeth. Bill jumped back, almost knocking me over. Stump and Chorizo scooted away from the wild rabbit. Kinski's tired eyes shifted over to me.

I quickly looked down at my glass of water, my shoulders raised up near my head. Kinski snarled before turning back to his drink. Bill swivelled back to his drink. He cursed under his breath. None of us said anything as we drank. After ten minutes of silence, Kinski lifted his head up from his glass.

Ricochet and Buford stood at the far corner of the bar, cleaning glasses. Buford seemed calm, while Ricochet trembled in fear. He jumped when he noticed Kinski staring at him. Kinski lifted his hand up and motioned him forward. Ricochet exchanged glances with Buford. Buford looked over at the tired rabbit, then back to the corkscrew armed rabbit. He nodded. "Go ahead," he muttered to him. Ricochet hesitated before coming up to the hunchback jackrabbit.

"Y-yes?" he stuttered. Kinski pointed to his glass. "Refill," he said in a drowsy voice. Ricochet looked down at Kinski's glass. It was filled to the top. He looked back up at the tall jackrabbit. "I-it's already full," he said. Kinski's eyes flickered down to the drink, then back up.

"_Refill_ it," he said with a bit of firmness in his voice. Ricochet's body shook with fear. He turned his head to Buford, who just shrugged. Ricochet's eyes then shifted over to us for help. I looked over to Kinski, then back to Ricochet and shrugged as well . Ricochet looked over at Bill, Stump and Chorizo. They were as lost as I was. Kinski wasn't thinking straight. "I-its alr-ready f-full," stuttered Ricochet.

Suddenly, before anyone could blink, Kinski grabbed the front of Ricochet's shirt. Ricochet screamed as he was pulled out from behind the bar and thrown toward the saloon doors. Ricochet crashed into a table and chairs. Buford gasped as he exchanged glances with me. We watched in horror as Kinski snapped and snarled like a wild animal on his stool. Buford silently lifted his wooden bat from behind the counter, but Kinski whipped his head around and aimed his gun at Buford.

"_Don't you dare_!" he shouted, making Buford jump. He dropped the bat. Before anyone could do anything, Kinski wheeled around and jumped off his stool. He approached Ricochet. Ricochet rubbed his head with his good hand and groaned. He pulled off a chunk of wood that was stuck at the end of his corkscrew and brushed a couple chunks of wood from him. He looked up. His eyes widened in horror as he tried getting up from the debris. Kinski grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up to his face. "Kinski! No!" I screamed. Kinski ignored me.

Ricochet struggled as he hung there in mid air. Bill, Stump, and Chorizo started to laugh. I was the only one who didn't laugh. It wasn't funny at all, it was horrible. The young, grey rabbit stopped struggling and looked up in fear at Kinski's outraged face. Kinski's eyes glared through Ricochet from behind his long bangs. His mouth was clamped down tight, revealing his sharp, rotting teeth. Drool seeped out and dribbled down his lip. Ricochet whimpered as Kinski shoved his gun against the young jackrabbit's forehead. He gripped Ricochet's neck tightly, cutting off his air. Ricochet choked and struggled for air. He kicked his legs helplessly. Bill, Stump, and Chorizo continued laughing.

I jumped off my stool and ran to the two rabbits. I didn't realize what I was doing before I grabbed Kinski's arm. I could feel Bill, Stump, and Chorizo staring at me in confusion as they stopped laughing and watched me try to stop an insane creature. Trying to stop an outlaw from hurting someone, but I didn't care. I didn't want Kinski to kill Ricochet.

"Kinski! Let go of him!" I screamed as I pulled his arm with all my strength. Kinski growled a low growl as he shoved me off. I fell backwards and slammed against a couple chairs. I crashed to the floor, groaning in pain as I cradling my bleeding wings. The three outlaws stopped laughing and gasped, realizing that Kinski was getting a little too out of hand, and needed to be calmed down.

Stump and Chorizo jumped off their stools and tried stopping Kinski. Stump pulled on the hunchback jackrabbit's arm, but Kinski's grip was too strong. Kinski shoved the short jackrabbit away from him. Chorizo tried jumping on top of Kinski, but the shrew was too short and fell. Kinski kicked Chorizo away from him and continued strangling Ricochet.

Ricochet struggled in Kinski's grasp, gasping for air. Kinski sneered and clicked the hammer back on his gun. Ricochet's eyes widened, but continued to struggle.

_Kinski never had a problem with Ricochet. He actually liked the story how he got a corkscrew for an arm. He was different, just like him, but today, Kinski couldn't seem to grasp what was real, and what was fake as he strangled the young boy. His mind was lost, trapped in between the worlds of nightmareland, and real life. Years of endless, sleepless nights overwhelmed him… _

Bill didn't move from his place. He knew better then to try and stop the insane rabbit. Stump and Chorizo got up and tried stopping Kinski again but it was no use. Kinski shoved the two away. They crashed against two tables. I looked up from my bleeding wings to Ricochet. The young, grey rabbit started to go limp. He stopped kicking and his arms flopped to his sides. Kinski's mouth curled upward into an evil grin. I gasped and quickly stood up from where I crashed. I took a deep breath and screeched at the two.

Kinski and Ricochet were pushed back from the screech. They were flung back away from each other and landed on the opposite sides of the room. A couple tables and chairs snapped and broke. Kinski's gun was knocked out from his hands and clattered across the floor. He fell back. His deformity smacked up against one of the wooden beams that supported the saloon from collapsing. He screamed in agony as fell to the floor. He jerked and twisted violently.

Ricochet fell against the ground gasping for air. He coughed and held his chest with his good hand. His chest rising and falling. Without thinking, I ran to Ricochet. I went down on my knees and placed my left wing on his back. Long strands of saliva made its way from Ricochet's mouth to the floor. His mouth was open, gasping and heaving.

"Are you ok?" I asked him. He didn't say anything, but slightly nodded. I looked up. Stump and Chorizo cautiously walked over to Kinski, who crumpled up into a little ball in the middle of what remained of a table. Splintered wood and cracked legs laid around Kinski's trembling body.

Stump and Chorizo gently helped their friend up, careful not to touch his hump. Kinski groaned and gingerly rubbed his deformity as he was led out from the saloon. Bill go up from his stool. He grabbed me by the wing and pulled me out, leaving Ricochet alone on the ground.

_Buford came around the bar and helped Ricochet up. Ricochet watched as Banshee and the outlaws left the saloon and down the street. "You all right, son?" asked Buford. Ricochet lightly touched his sore throat and coughed again. "Yeah," he lied. The image of Banshee asking if he was allright came into his mind. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't seem to grasp it. His thoughts were interrupted when Buford turned him around and led him back to the bar. "Why don't ya sit down and rest, don't worry about the mess, I'll clean it up," said Buford as he got a broom from behind the counter and started sweeping up the splintered wood. Ricochet just sat there at one of the stools, thinking... _


	9. Chapter 9

We arrived back to the Abandoned Mines. Chorizo and Stump helped Kinski inside. He shrugged their hands off as he slowly walked toward his couch and flopped down. Resting his head. The other gunslingers sat at the table and played a game of cards. I grabbed a crate of fruit and walked out of the hideout to Kaliah's stable. I walked up the hill and found Kaliah sleeping upside down from the rafters. "Hey Kaliah," I said as I approached her stable. Kaliah opened one brown eye, then the other.

"_Hello, Banshee, how are you?" _she asked.

I lightly rubbed my bleeding wings. "Fine," I lied. Kaliah came down from the rafters and accepted the crate of fruit. She stopped and sniffed the air. Her eyes blinked in my direction.

"_I smell blood…are you bleeding?" _she asked me. I didnt say anything. _"You are, aren't you. What happened?" _

I sighed. "It's a long story…you wont like it," I said, as Kaliah climbed back to the rafters. She was about to eat a banana, but then stopped. She blindly looked down at me.

"_How do you know I wont like it? And if it's a long story, I'm curious to know what happened," _she said.

I sighed again and shook my head. "It's not what you think." Kaliah ignored me and flapped one of her wings. Wanting me to start the story. I rubbed my head. "All right," I said and told her...

Kaliah's eyes widened as I told her the incident at the saloon when Kinski went insane and attacked Ricochet. She held the crate of fruit close to her. Her ears pointed forward. She seemed to be shaking in fear. When I finished, Kaliah's mouth was hanging open in horror.

"_Oh my gosh…is Ricochet ok?" _she asked, still holding the crate of fruit tightly in her wings.

I nodded. "He's fine, thankfully," I said. I heard Kaliah sigh with relief, but still seemed scared. She didn't feel like eating after the story. When a coyote's far away cry was heard, she jumped and started screeching, nearly dropping the crate. Kaliah calmed herself down after that, and turned her head toward my direction.

"_I don't want you around that…that monster! If he attempts to kill kids for no reason, then you shouldn't be around him either,"_ the bat said, shaking from the rafters.

I felt my stomach twist at the thought, but took a deep breath and exhaled. "He's not a monster…he was just tired. He couldn't sleep last night," I said. Kaliah shook her head.

"_I don't care. I don't…I don't want you to get killed," _she said softly.

I smiled up at her. "Thank you, Kaliah," I said. Kaliah didn't answer. Her eyes were full of fear. I looked down and rubbed my sore wings. The bleeding stopped, but the pains were still there. The dried up blood crusts came off from my wings. I picked at one and stopped when it started bleeding again. Kaliah and I didn't say anything as we thought about the hunchback jackrabbit.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stick up. I was as scared as Kaliah. I didn't want to get on Kinski's bad side. I thought back to last night when Kinski couldn't sleep. I wondered what it was that he dreamed that made him wake up in the middle of the night and not go back to sleep after that.

The sky started to darken and Kaliah's glow- in- the- dark war paint was slowly glowing more and more brighter. I took off my sunglasses. Finally, Kaliah had the nerve to eat. She ate slowly and thoughtfully. When she was done, she was still hungry. I went back to the hideout for another box. I looked inside and realized that Kaliah had finished the last box. I groaned and headed back. "There's no more boxes of food," I said to Balthazar's bat. Kaliah sighed sadly.

"_Oh," _she said with disappointment.

"I'll get you more," I said. As I started heading down. Kaliah flapped her wings from the stable. .

"_You are going to walk _all _the way to the town of Dirt?" she asked. _

I smiled. "I'll take the wagon, the guys wont mind," I said as I headed to the wagon where the boar rested. I woke the boar up and climbed up into the wagon. The boar pulled the wagon. Kaliah continued flapping her wings. She sniffed the air and trembled nervously.

"_W-what about...Kinski? You sure he wont c-come out and try to kill me?" _she asked as she heard the wagon pass by the stable.

I shook my head. "No, I doubt it. I'll be back," I told her. I whipped the reins and the boar quickened its' pace down the hill and away from the Abandodned Mines.

* * *

I stopped the wagon when I approached the entrance of Dirt. I jumped off and walked down the main dirt road toward the general store. No one was around. The cold night air teased my short dark brown hair as I walked up the steps. A rusty bell sounded overhead. Mr. Furgus looked up from his counter. Next to him was Waffles and Wounded Bird.

"Miss Banshee!" said Waffles happily as he came running up to me and gave me a hug. I smiled and hugged him back. Waffles smiled up at me, but then realized what he was doing. "Oh, sorry," he said, backing away. I waved it off. "It's all right, no ones around to see," I said. Then waved to Mr. Furgus and Wounded Bird. They waved back. Wounded Bird spoke. "Be careful. People could be listening in on conversation," he said in his sad, low voice. I nodded. Mr. Furgus spoke next, "Haven't seen you for a while, how you doin'?" he whispered. "Did ya find out about the plan?" asked Waffles. I shook my head. "No, not yet," I said. I turned back to Mr. Furgus.

"I need some food, Kaliah and I ate the rest of it," I said in a whisper. Mr. Furgus scratched his head. Feathers fluttered down. Waffles looked up at me confusingly. "Kaliah?" the small horned lizard asked in his raspy voice. I explained to them about having to steal a bat in order to join the gang. Mr. Furgus raised an eyebrow, "Do you think it's part of the plan?" he asked. I shrugged, "I don't know, maybe," I said. Waffles looked down at the ground. Wounded Bird just shook his head. "Not good," he said in a low voice.

Mr. Furgus handed me two crates of food. I fumbled my wings to pull out money, but Mr. Furgus lifted his featherless wing. "You don't have to pay me, what yer doin' right now for the town is a good enough payment in itself," he said with a smile. I looked at him, then over to Waffles and Wounded Bird, they were smiling. I smiled back. "Thanks, Mr. Furgus," I said as I headed out the door. Mr. Furgus, Waffles and Wounded Bird waved goodbye to me and went back to tending the store.

I placed the crates in the back of the wagon and rode back to the Abandoned Mines. The sky became pitch black. I pulled the two crates out and walked down the rest of the way to the stable. Suddenly, I heard screeching. Kaliah.

"_Help! Help! Banshee!" _she screamed. I gripped the crates tightly and jogged to the stable. I gasped. Kaliah was flapping her wings and screeching in fear. Kinski stood at the stable, staring up at Balthazar's bat as she tried flying away from him. The rope tied around Kaliah's foot stopped her from flying any further.

"_Banshee! Help me! He's going to kill me!" _she screamed as she heard my footsteps approach Kinski and the stable.

Kinski turned around. I stopped dead in my tracks, almost dropping the two crates of fruit. The hunchback jackrabbit stared back at me. In his hands, he held his jacks. Kaliah's glow-in-the-dark war paint illuminated him, so I was able to see his face. His eyes calmly stared back. I saw no sign of anger or tiredness. I cautiously approached him. "Hi Kinski, are you ok?" I asked. Kaliah kept screeching.

"_Don't talk to him! He'll kill you," _she screeched.

I ignored her as I set one crate down on the ground. Kinski fumbled with his jacks. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said quietly. Kaliah kept screeching and telling me to get away.

"Kaliah! It's ok. He's fine!" I said to her. Kaliah stopped screeching. I lifted the crate of fruit in my wings to her. As I did, my wings screamed in pain. I rested the crate on the fence and rubbed them gently. Kinski noticed my wounded wings and looked away. Kaliah sniffed the air. Smelling the fruit. Hesitant. She slowly came down from the rafters, but would stop and listen if Kinski would come near. He didn't.

Finally, Kaliah accepted the box of fruit in my wings and climbed back up. Kinski watched Kaliah climb up back to the rafters and watched her eat. I looked back to him. "You couldnt sleep last night, right?" I asked him. Kinski's eyes fell back down to me. He didn't answer. He shifted his jacks from one furry hand to the other. "...nightmares...of things I did in the past..." He said. He noticed me eyeing his jacks. Kinski stopped jumbling them around in his hands. He tensed up at first, but gradually relaxed.

"They calm me," he finally said in a soft voice. I looked up at him when he spoke. "Where did you get them?" I asked. He lowered his head and stared down at the game. His eyes full of sadness. "They…were a gift to me…from my caretaker… at the orphanage," he answered slowly. My eyes widened. "An orphanage?" I asked. Kinski nodded, his eyes narrowing. Kaliah stopped eating and lifted her head up from the crate. Her ears pointed forward.

"What happened?" I asked. Kinski's eyes shifted on the ground, remembering bits and pieces of memories. He didnt answer me. His left hand tightened around his jacks. I slowly walked up to him. He didn't notice, until I placed my left wounded wing on his shoulder. He flinched. His eyes widened behind his bangs.

"It's ok," I said to him softly. Kinski's nose twitched in the cool night air. His eyes flickered over to my wing on his shoulder. Gradually, his left hand loosened around the game. His hands relaxed down to his sides. He placed his jacks into his left pocket and looked back to me. I smiled a small shy smile. His tired red eyes blinked behind his long bangs. He licked his dry lips. Slowly, his mouth formed a small smile back. I felt my heart beating fast. Suddenly, a crash was heard from behind me. Kinski and I jumped. I removed my wing from Kinski's shoulder. Kaliah screeched.

"_Sorry! sorry, I dropped the crate," _she said, flapping her wings.

I felt my face heat up from embarrassment. I turned back to Kinski, who brought out his jacks again. He looked down at the ground. His face hidden behind his long dishevelled hair. Finally, he muttered something and left. When he was gone, I narrowed my eyes up at Kaliah. "You did that on purpose," I said. Kaliah's eyes widened.

"_What? __Me? Doing that on purpose? Don't be silly," _she said, but I could tell she was lying.

I just sighed, rolling my eyes, and walked down the hill to the Abandoned Mines.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 is finished. I apoplogize for the slight delay, and any mistakes. Hope you enjoy :)**

The next morning I woke up from the ground again. My wings were still sore. I rubbed them gently as I got up. I yawned and looked around. The gangs couches and bed were empty. The outlaws were already up. I bundled my thin scratchy sheets together and tossed them next to my pillow.

Just as I was leaving, I noticed Bill coming in from outside. In his hands, he held a box. He noticed me eyeing the box and kept walking. "Hey, Bill. What's in the box?" I asked. Bill slowed down. He hesitated for a minute, then kept walking. "Nothin' of yer concern," he said through clenched teeth. I closed my mouth. He grunted and disappeared through another tunnel.

I stared at the tunnel Bill went through. _Does that tunnel lead to the place Priscilla mentioned? _I wondered. I thought of the small storage room full of the strange boxes Priscilla told the Rango and his posse. Cautiously, I walked over to the tunnel. The yawning mouth of the tunnel blew cold air. I stopped. Goosebumps crawled up and down my shaking wings as I stared down into the pitch black hole.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps. Bill was coming back. I quickly turned around and headed outside. I heard Bill come out from the tunnel but I didn't turn back. I still had to convince Bill that I wasn't a fraud and trust me.

I decided to explore the tunnel later when he wasn't around. I squinted in the morning light as I came out from the mines. Kinski, Chorizo and Stump were outside. Stump and Kinski were seen setting up a couple whiskey bottles on a wide flat rock, while Chorizo sat on the ground ten feet from them.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked as I approached them. Their heads turned. Stump smirked, "setting up bottles to shoot at," he said and got up when the bottles were all standing up. There was ten in all, and lined up five inches apart from each other. Kinski got up after Stump and they both walked away from the bottles. Chorizo got up and followed after the two jackrabbits.

I followed after the outlaws. They stopped about forty feet from the lined up bottles. The rising sun was to our backs. Chorizo sat down again. The two jackrabbits didn't seem to notice as they whipped out their own guns. Stump clicked his hammer. Kinski was busy placing some bullets in his gun. Stump went first. He aimed his gun at the bottles. The sun baked our backs as it rose higher and higher in the sky. Stump took his time, he kept his right hand steady, arms length away.

Then he pulled the trigger. _Bang!_ My ears went back in annoyance. In the distance, I could hear Kaliah screeching. The bottles didnt break. Stump cursed and lowered his gun. Kinski went next. He aimed his gun, and pulled the trigger. _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ One bottle shattered. Kinski cursed and spat the ground. Stump stepped up again and aimed his gun at the bottles. Kaliah was heard flapping and screeching.

"Banshee, have you ever shot anyone?" he asked me and fired. _Bang! _No bottles shattered. My ears screamed in pain, but I ignored it. "No, I don't need to, I have my scream ability," I said. Kinski had his gun arms length away and was aiming at the bottles. He lowered his left hand with the gun and turned his head to me. "So, you've never used a gun," he said. I nodded.

Stump placed an arm around my shoulders. "Well, I think you should at least know how to use a gun. Never know if that scream thing you have may suddenly disappear," he pointed out with a mischievous grin on his face. I looked away from Stump. _He might have a point, I'll never know if I may suddenly lose my scream ability_, I thought. Chorizo got up and tossed his gun to me.

"Here, you can practice with mine," he said revealing a smiling row of rotting yellow teeth. Then he sat back down. I looked down at Chorizo's gun in my wings. I fumbled with it till a had a good grip. I held it in my left wing. Stump snickered. "Oh how nice, another lefty," Stump teased, jabbing Kinski. Kinski shoved the stumpy jackrabbit away from him and walked over to me. He showed me how to hold the gun properly.

I felt my face heat up when his furry fingers touched my wings. I looked up to him. His eyes were narrowed. He muttered to himself as he finally got my wing to hold the gun the right way. After that, Stump placed his hands on my shoulders and showed me where to stand.

When Stump and Kinski were done helping me, they took a step back and motioned their arms for me to go ahead and shoot. I stared at the gun in my hands. It was heavy. My sore wings were in so much pain. I looked up at the bottles. They looked like they were a mile away. I took deep, slow breaths as I aimed the gun at the bottles. My heart was pounding fast. I squeezed the trigger. _Bang!_ I was jolted backwards, but I regained my balance. The gun fell from my wings from the impact. I heard a bottle shatter, but I didn't care. My wings folded under me and I went down on my knees in pain. My wings throbbed and felt like they were on fire.

I felt a pair of furry hands grip my shoulders. "Banshee?" asked a familiar voice. I blinked back the tears as I was carefully lifted up. Kinski looked down at me. I looked up at him, then down at my shaking wings. Stump came over and picked up Chorizo's gun. He looked over at the bottles. The top half of the bottle I shot was gone. Stump looked back over to me.

"Not bad…for a girl, but, I think you should stick to that scream ability of yours," he said with a hint of jealousy. I smiled weakly and nodded. With that, Stump walked over to Chorizo and handed his gun back. Kinski led me over to where Chorizo was sitting. I sat down next to the shrew and watched the two jackrabbits shoot.

Kinski aimed his gun and fired. _Bang! Bang! Bang! _No bottles shattered. Kinski cursed. Stump fired a couple times, but wasn't able to hit any either. Five minutes went by and they still weren't able to shoot any bottles. After watching Stump and Kinski not hit any bottles I turned my head to Chorizo.

"Why aren't you shooting?" I asked him. Chorizo pulled out his gun with a smile on his face. "Because, I know how to shoot. These long-eared dim wits don't know how to," he said laughing. The two jackrabbits stopped shooting and gave the shrew a glare. "We know how to shoot!" snapped Kinski. Chorizo snorted. "Oh yeah, I can see that," he said sarcastically. The two jackrabbits growled. "Have you tried shootin' forty feet away with yer eyes closed?" asked Stump through clenched teeth.

Chorizo grinned mischievously up at them. "Lets, find out, shall we?" With that, he got up and stood where the two jackrabbits were. Stump and Kinski took a step back from the shrew. Chorizo placed his left hand over his eyes and aimed his gun blindly with the other at the remaining lined up bottles. Chorizo's hand stood out arms length away. His gun quivered in the air. No one spoke or said anything.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! _All the bottles shattered and exploded into a million pieces. Stump and Kinski's mouth dropped in shock. My eyes widened. "Whoa," I said, impressed. Chorizo grinned. Smoke trailed out of the end of his gun. "Been practicin' since I was a little _nino,_" he said

The two jackrabbits snapped out of their surprised state. Stump spat the ground angrily and Kinski sneered. "Show off," muttered Stump as he walked away. Chorizo snickered as he twirled the gun in his hand before placing it back into its holster. He flashed a grin to me. "I never miss," he boasted. Kinski rolled his eyes before following after Stump.

* * *

After shooting practice, Bill got the wagon around and we all jumped in for a ride to Dirt. I rubbed my raw, red wings carefully. It was such a pain to have wings. Everytime something bad happened, my wings were always getting damaged. I sighed and gingerly rested them in my lap. No one talked during the ride. Kinski and Stump were busy placing more bullets in their guns. Chorizo fell asleep in the back. His sombrero covered his face.

The wagon jolted and rocked. I held on to the sides. I was slowly getting used to the wagon. I never liked when it would jolt or rock everytime it went over a rock or a dead plant, but i just lived with sun glared down on our heads. I placed one wing over my head to keep from dying.

Kinski looked up from his gun. He hesitated to say something, but then just shook his head and looked back at his gun. His light colored hair fell over his face. I looked out to the desert scenery. Dust and dirt picked up as the wagon pulled on. Bill whipped the reins, making the boar trot a quicker pace.

When we arrived, we all jumped out and headed to the saloon. Ricochet wasn't at the saloon, only Buford. Buford finished cleaning a glass and lifted his head. He narrowed his eyes at us when we walked in. When we all sat down, he calmly poured us our usual drinks and continued cleaning glasses. "Hey, bartender, where's Skrewhead?" asked Stump, snickering. Buford didn't answer him right away as he continued cleaning glasses. "Leave Ricochet alone. I gave him the day off today because i knew you guys would be comin' back to harass him," he said. Kinski tensed up. He growled a low growl. Buford ignored him and poured him another glass.

I drank my water in small gulps. The gang went quiet after that. Just then, the squeaky saloon doors were heard. We all swiveled around in our seats. Standing right in front of the swinging saloon doors, was someone I have never seen before. He was a strange looking mouse. His fur was a light brown color and his hair was short and dark. He wore dirty blue jeans and a dirty white shirt under a black coat. His dish like ears twitched and listened to the strange sounds in the room. His tail swished underneath him as he casually walked in and sat next to us at the bar. The gang exchanged glances. They have never seen him in town before, so he must be a new person. "Whiskey," he said to Buford. Buford silently got out a bottle of whiskey and poured the stranger a glass.

Stump jabbed me in the shoulder. He grinned mischievously as he started to pickpocket the stranger. I blinked. Stump's talent was pickpocketing. That's when I realized that the gang had little talents. Chorizo was able to hit his target, Stump was able to pickpocket...what about Kinski? Did he have a talent? I quickly turned my head to Kinski. He tilted his head back and gulped his drink down. He set the glass down when he was done and hunched over it. I turned back to Stump who just pulled out a silver pocketwatch. Bill and the other gangmembers snickered as they watched their short friend pickpocket the mouse.

Stump was almost done pocketing the stranger's pocket when the stranger turned and noticed him. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" he shouted as he grabbed his pocketwatch back. Stump gave the stranger a glare. The stranger narrowed his eyes. At lightning speed, he pulled his arm back and socked Stump in the face. Stump was knocked off his stool and crashed against a couple tables. His head slammed up against the side of a table. Stump groaned as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Bill, Chorizo, and Kinski stopped snickering when they noticed Stump on the floor. They got up from their stools. The stranger got up from his stool too.

Suddenly, the mouse started to shake in fear. Seeing that the odds were three to one, and he had no gun on him. "I-I don't want t-to fight," the mouse stuttered. The gang burst out laughing. I sat on my stool, not sure what to do. Kinski and Chorizo grabbed the newcomer by the shoulders. They snickered as the stranger trembled in their grasp. Bill loomed over him. He growled. "I'm afraid you have no choice, boy. You see, in _my_ town, no one gets away with it, and since you're new here, I'm gonna have to teach you some manners," said Bill with a creepy grin on his face.

With that, Kinski and Chorizo led the the male mouse toward the saloon doors and shoved him. The stranger stumbled out and fell onto the dusty dirt road. Kinski and Chorizo laughed as they followed after him. Bill looked at me and then to Stump. "See if he's ok," he said to me and walked out of the saloon. I got off my stool and helped Stump up. He groaned and rubbed his head. "You ok?" I asked him. Stump stopped rubbing his head. "Yeah...I think so..." he said. He moved away from me and staggered toward the saloon doors. I followed after him.

When we walked out of the dark saloon, we found Kinski and Chorizo harassing the poor mouse. The two outlaws stopped when they noticed Stump and me standing near the saloon doors. The mouse quickly got up on his feet and started to bolt, but then tripped over his own feet. The gang laughed at the shaking mouse.

"How many people did you say you have killed?" asked Bill to me. I stiffened. "I-I didn't," I said. Bill smiled slyly. "How many?" he asked. "Thirteen," I lied. "With only your freak screamin' yes?" he asked. I nodded. Bill snorted. "Have you ever used a gun?" he asked. I nodded, "This morning," I said. Bill eyed his henchmen. "You guys saw her shoot?" he asked them. They nodded. "She shot a bottle," said Chorizo. Bill's expression didnt change. "Have you ever seen her shoot someone?" The gang exchanged glances. "No," said Kinski. Bill faced me. I slowed my racing heart down as I stared up at Bill. He was still testing me.

Just then, Stump piped up. "She's fine without a-" he started. Bill whipped his head around. "Was I talking to you?" he shouted at Stump. Stump jumped. He shrunk down low in fear. "N-no, b-boss-" "Then shut it!" screamed Bill. Kinski and Chorizo flinched. They took a step back. Bill turned his head back to me. He grinned, revealing a row of sharp rotting teeth. Bill lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. "Kinski, yer gun," he said. Obediantly, Kinski came forward and handed Bill his gun, then he walked back to where he once stood.

Bill clicked the hammer back. A series of clicks was heard. Bill's evil grin widened. "Here," He said, handing the gun to me. I hesitated. Bill's eyebrows knitted together. "Take it!" he snarled. I took the gun from his claws. The gang stared at me. "Now," he said as he whipped around and pointed down the street. The stranger had slowly moved twenty feet from us. I felt all the blood drain from my face. "Shoot him," Bill said. I gulped. The stranger, who was exhausted and out of breath from the gang harassing him, turned around.

I raised the gun. My wings shaking in the process. The strangers eyes widened. He stood frozen in his tracks. My mind raced. _I can't kill him, he doesn't deserve this...Oh why does this always happen to me! _I screamed in my head. I stared at the staranger. He didn't move. Just then, an idea popped into my head. I calmed my shaking wings, and carefully tilted the gun to the left. _Bang!_The stranger screamed in pain as he clutched his right shoulder and collapsed. The gun dropped from my hands and I fell to the ground. My wings screamed in pain.

The gang laughed at the fallen mouse. Bill grabbed me rouphly by the scruff of the neck and lifted me up, helping me to my feet. "Not bad, girly," he said to me with a sly grin. Stump slapped me on the back with one hand and rubbed his sore head with the other. "Yeah, shot that bastard good," he said with a grin. Kinski flicked the tips of my ears, laughing maniacally.

When they were done laughing and rough housing with me, Bill started walking back to the wagon. "Come on, lets go," he said. The other male gunslingers followed after him. I looked over to where the mouse fell. Rango and his posse were there, helping the wounded mouse up. I sighed with relief. I only intended to nick him on the shoulder. I watched as Elgin, Spoons, and Sergeant Turley helped the bleeding mouse to Doc's office. "Come on, Banshee," called Kinski. I turned around and walked back to the wagon.

* * *

The sun started to sink low as we rode back to the Abandoned Mines. When we arrived, we all jumped off. The gang laughed and slapped me on the back as they walked into the hideout. "Hey, Banshee, you wanna play cards with us?" asked Chorizo as he pulled out a deck of cards. Kinski and Stump nodded. I shook my head, "No, I have to feed Kaliah," I said as I got a crate of food and headed out to the stable. "You can join us when you get back," said Chorizo. "Ok," I said and left the hideout.

Kaliah was sleeping upside down from the rafters. She instantly woke up when she heard me. "Hi Kaliah, guess what I did today?" Kaliah came down and accepted the crate.

"_Well, from what I know from this morning, you guys kept freaking me out when you were shooting bottles," _she said, baring her teeth.

I smiled, "Yes," I said, remembering back when I heard her scream everytime a gun went off. Kaliah ate out of the crate. Her mouth covered in bananas and mangoes. I continued, "Well, this afternoon, Bill wanted to test me again. He made me shoot someone," I told her. Kaliah stopped eating.

"_What happened? Did you kill him?" _asked Kaliah.

I shook my head. "No, I just nicked him on the shoulder, the posse helped him after that," I explained. I sighed and sat down on the ground. "This is getting too out of hand," I said. I rubbed my sore, raw wings carefully. _If this still keeps up, I might murder the whole town, _I thought to myself. Kaliah finished the crate and dropped it to the ground.

_"Don't worry, the time will come. Bill has to reveal his plan sometime." _she said.

I sighed. "I don't know, I don't think the time will ever come," I said. I thought for a minute. Just then, Bill came out from the hideout. "Oi! Banshee! Come in! I want to talk to you!" yelled Bill from the mine entrance. Kaliah's ears perked up and she sniffed the air. I looked at her. She blinked.

_"...I think the time has finally_ _come..." _she said slowly.

I felt my heart stop. "You mean..." I started. Kaliah nodded. Bill's plan. I took a deep breath and exhaled. I got up. "Well, I hope this all works out in the end...see you later, Kaliah," I said.

"_Good luck, Banshee," _Kaliah said.

I walked down the hill toward the Abandoned Mines. My heart raced. This was it, I could feel it. I entered through the entrance to the hideout. When I came inside, I found Kinski, Chorizo, and Stump standing on the other side of the room. They looked at me, then at Bill. Bill grunted. "All right, we're all here. Follow me," he said and headed down the tunnel, the same one Bill went through this morning with a box. Kinski, Chorizo and Stump followed their leader. I hesitated before following them into the dark tunnel.

Kinski, Chorizo, Stump, and I, followed Bill as we entered into a different area of the mines. My mind raced as we entered. It_ was_ the room Priscilla mentioned when she went to the mines. Kinski and I looked around. "Right then, I never got to finish my plan, but I think today's the day I should," Bill said as he stopped in the middle of the room. We stopped as well and faced Bill.

"I'm gonna have to start at the beginning since Kinski was in the jail…and Banshee just joined our gang," said Bill. Kinski and I stopped looking around and faced Bill. Bill cleared his throat and continued. "I have been forming a plan to take over Dirt for months, and now, the time has come," he said as he showed us the door. He opened it. My heart skipped a beat. Inside was hundreds and hundreds of boxes.

I felt my legs weaken. I faltered a bit but regained balance. Bill grabbed a box and placed it down on the ground for all of us to see. He dug his sharp claws under the lip of the lid and pried it open. We all peered inside. Inside were weapons. Kinski, Chorizo, and Stump's eyes lit up at the sight of the different kinds of weapons. I turned my head to the arsenal room._ All those boxes contained weapons! _"That's a lot of weapons, boss," said Stump as he pulled out a gun and examined it with a grin on his face. Bill grabbed the gun from Stump and placed it back into the crate.

"Ya need a lot of weapons when you have an army," said Bill with a smirk on his face. I looked up at him. "An a-army?" I stuttered. Bill nodded, "That's right. I have called in all the outlaws from different areas of the desert to help me with this plan," He said. Kinski, Chorizo and Stump looked up from the weapons. "What? How did you get them to accept the job?" asked Chorizo. Bill didnt answer right away as he pulled out another box. Instead of weapons, the box was filled with money. The gang gasped.

Bill continued, "I told them I would "pay them," if they helped me with my plan," he said with an evil grin. The gang stared at their leader with wide eyes. "What are _we _going to be doing?" asked Stump as he pointed to each of us. Bill pointed to all of us. "You guys are going to help me make sure this plan works out," he said. "You're gonna first help me by taking the boxes out of this room to outside when the outlaws come," he said. My stomach twisted. This was too much. Rango and the posse can't take down a whole army of outlaws by themselves.

"When are we going to do this?" asked Chorizo. "First thing in the mornin'" said Bill, "they won't see it comin'" The gang exchanged glances, then they all laughed, they loved the plan. I was shocked and appalled. I had to warn the town. Tonight.


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's Chapter 11. Sorry if Jake doesn't really sound like himself.**

When Bill finished telling his plan, we all went back to the hideout room and went to bed. I waited till the boys were sound asleep. Then I quietly tiptoed out of the room and out into the night. Kaliah didn't hear me. She hung upside down with her wings folded up around her. The glow in the dark paint on her wings glowed bright like a lantern. I cautiously tiptoed till I was out of earshot. I lifted my wings and flapped them. I flew up. Ignoring the pain as I flew toward the town.

I landed at the entrance of the town and ran down the main street to the sheriff's office. When I found the sheriff's office, I peered through the window. It was dark inside, but I could faintly see Rango asleep at his chair. I went to the door and tried opening it. It was locked. I pounded on the door. "Rango! Rango! Oh please wake up!" I said. Rango opened the door and yawned. "Huh? Who's-" he started. "Rango! It's me, Banshee," I said. Rango opened his sleepy eyes.

"Banshee? What's wrong?" he asked and yawned again. "I found out about Bill's plan!" I said. Rango's eyes widened. "You did?" asked Rango. I nodded. "Yes!" I said. Rango placed his hands up. "Shhh! Calm down. You'll wake up the whole-" Suddenly a gunshot interrupted him we both turned and gasped.

The whole town approached us. They all had flaming torches and guns. I saw Priscilla with two revolvers in her hands. She glared at me angrily. Someone pointed to me. "It's Banshee! She's goin' to kill the sheriff!" Everyone yelled and shouted. They started to advance toward us. "Wait! Hold on everyone!" called Rango as he raised his arms up and went in front of me. "Now, let's get this all sorted out without killing-" Rango started.

"It's Banshee! Every time she comes back to town, she does something horrible!" yelled a townsperson. Rango tried to calm them down but they ignored him. They became out of control. Rango's posse made their way through the crowd and stood in front of me. Protecting me. They tried telling the crowd to calm down and listen to Rango. The mob's screaming and shouting muffled them out.

The flames and guns came toward me. I took a couple steps backwards till my back touched the jail door. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to confess. I dodged out of the way and climbed up to the sheriff/jail building. I took a deep breath, and screeched. A couple windows shattered, but it made everyone quiet down.

"I have something to say!" I yelled down to them. Rango looked up at me in shock. _Don't!_ he mouthed. I ignored him. "I'm not evil. I'm only _pretending_ to be evil! Bill and his gang were forming a plan to take over this town. I was supposed to find out about this plan, to save you guys," I told them. The crowd just stared up at me. Silence filled the air.

I couldn't tell if they believed me or not. I continued and told them of the plan how Bill was starting up his own army of outlaws and make everyone slaves, to do his evil bidding. The town gasped. They exchanged scared glances. When I finished telling them my story, everyone went silent again. I waited for their response, hoping that what I told them was enough for them to believe me. Rango looked up at me, then to the mob.

Finally one of the citizens spoke his mind. "Burn her!" he yelled. Everyone yelled in agreement. They raised their guns to me and fired. Rango tried to stop them, but it was too late. I quickly flew off and out of the town. Gunshots were heard. Flaming torches were thrown at me. I felt my sore wings get hit by the flames and the flying bullets. I screeched in pain as I came down. I crashed and rolled down Main street. Pain shot up and down my wings as I quickly scrambled to my feet. The mob was still chasing me. I turned and bolted. I was almost out of the town when I heard a voice. "Banshee! Wait!"

I looked down and eyed Priscilla and Ricochet. I made my way to them. "I believe you," said Priscilla. Ricochet nodded. "We knew you would never join Bad Bill and his gang. You're nice," he said. I smiled weakly. I turned my head. The mob was close. I looked down at the two kids sadly. "Thank you, for believing in me… I just wish everyone else did too," Priscilla and Ricochet gave me a quick hug before I bolted out of town and into the darkness.

I turned my head and noticed the mob stopped chasing me. I slowed down and started walking the rest of the way. My wings screamed in pain from the burns and bullets, but I bit my lip, ignoring them. I looked down at the ground sadly. Feeling horrible. The town didn't believe me. Bill's army of outlaws was coming first thing in the morning. Rango and the posse didn't stand a chance, and I couldn't stop the army by myself. _What was I going to do? _I felt tears come to my eyes and quickly wiped them away in frustration. I couldn't hide all the weapons and money, that would take too long. I couldn't trick Bill, he was too smart for that. I fumbled with my wings as the Abandoned Mines came into view.

Suddenly I felt a hand cover my mouth I freaked out and started to struggle. I felt ropes wrap tightly around my wings, pinning them down to my sides. I struggled some more. Kicking and thrashing. I tried to scream, but someone tied a piece of cloth around my mouth. I heard gruff voices. I couldn't make out what they were saying. A heavy object struck me upside the head and I blacked out...

* * *

I woke up with a very sore headache. I groaned, but realized my groan was muffled. The piece of fabric was still tied over my mouth. I tried to move but realized my arms were stuck to my sides. I opened my eyes. I sat a good distance away from the Abandoned Mines. The sun faced me as it slowly rose over the mountains. Warming the desert landscape. My ribs felt broken, and my nose felt runny. I wiped my nose on my shoulder. Blood stained my light colored fur.

My mind flashed back to last night. Fuzzy images of the mob, Rango, the posse, Priscilla, Ricochet flickered in my brain. _The plan…Bill's plan…_It all came back to me. I went to warn the town, they didn't believe me, I went back to the mines and then…

The headache came it ceased, I tried getting up. The ropes wouldn't let me. I looked down and realized I was tied down to a rock. I sighed in frustration.

Suddenly, Bill came into view. "Good morning, _traitor? _How did you sleep?" asked Bill with a smirk on his face. I looked up at him and then turned away. Just then, Chorizo came up next to Bill, he snarled at me, "_Si_, we found out. You confessed to the towns people, we heard you," said the shrew. I blinked. _They heard me…they saw me walk out of the mines last night and followed me to town. _

A couple seconds later, Stump and Kinski appeared. They stood next to Bill and Chorizo. I stared up at them. Bill was the only one who was smirking. He knew I was a fake the whole time. Kinski, Stump and Chorizo didn't. Then why didn't Bill tell them? Why didn't he just shoot me? I guess he was waiting for the right time.

Suddenly, Kinski lurched forward toward me with his hands out. Stump and Chorizo quickly grabbed Kinski's arms. He screamed angrily as he tried to slash my face with his nails. His eyes were wild with insanity. Stump and Chorizo used all their strength to keep Kinski from killing me. Kinski thrashed violently, fighting them to let go. He snapped his sharp, rotting teeth at me. Cursing and straining to reach me. I fidgeted uncomfortably, wanting to get away. Finally, Kinski gave up fighting. Stump and Chorizo loosened their grip, but still held his arms. Kinski narrowed his eyes at me. I felt my stomach twist in pain. I could feel his hurt. His small feelings for me have been crushed, torn, and stomped on.

Kinski spat in my face. I opened one eye as I felt his warm saliva run down my face. I looked into his eyes. His eyes were filled with hate. I could hear him breathing heavily as he glared at me with rage. Past all the anger and insanity, I saw sadness. Tears ran down my face. Stump and Chorizo let go of his arms. Kinski gave me one last hateful look and stormed off. My eyes fell to the ground. I felt like I just got hit by a train. "Don't worry, Kinski, she'll get what she deserves," Stump called to the hunchback jackrabbit, but Kinski didn't look back as he kept walking.

Suddenly a loud hissing sound was heard. A spine twisting sound I couldn't recognize came after. Bill and the gang smiled evilly as the creature came into view. It was a rattlesnake. My eyes widened and I started struggling like mad. The ropes around me dug into my skin. The rattlesnake slithered up to the gang.

"You sssssssaid you had a "gift" for me?" asked the rattlesnake as he rattled his gatling gun tail. The rattlesnake was a dark brown with shades of black, he wore a black hat. Ammo holders wrapped around his long body.

Bill smiled. "Yep, a soul, just for you, Jake," he said and pointed to me. The snake who was named Jake, looked at me and laughed, amused. I stopped struggling and froze in fear. Bill turned to his men. "Go get our bat hostage, and get her ready," ordered Bill to Chorizo and Stump. As the two outlaws passed by me, they waved goodbye and laughed hysterically as they left. The snake started circling me slowly. He grinned, revealing a set of sharp teeth. He stopped and faced me. His eyes were wild and looked like uncontrollable fire.

"A traitor, huh?" he asked, "You don't look like the traitor type," observed Jake. He laughed softly. "Bill told me what you did. How you pretended to be an outlaw wanting to join his gang," Jake shook his head. My body shook uncontrollably. Jake's eyes burned right through me. "Sucks when plans backfire on you, huh?" he asked me. I didn't answer. Jake aimed his gun at me. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for my end… I opened one eye when thirty seconds passed.

Suddenly a dark shadow fell across the sky. Bill and Jake gasped and looked up. I opened both of my eyes. Nothing. Jake stared up at the sky for a moment. He shook his head. He turned back to me and raised his gun close to my face. Suddenly the shadow fell over us again. Jake couldn't stand it any longer. He cursed up a storm as he fired a couple of shots in the air and slithered away. Bill started looking around for a place to hide.

I stiffened. _Hawk, _a voice in my head told me. The shadow came by again. A loud flapping noise was heard above me. I struggled to get away but it was no use. The flapping got louder, and closer. I stopped struggling and looked up. Instead of seeing what I though to be a huge hawk, I saw a dark grey, almost black creature. Kaliah!

Kaliah came down next to me. She used her wings to feel for the ropes. She used her teeth to undo the knots. The ropes loosened around me and I was free. I ripped the cloth from my mouth and wrapped my wings around Kaliah. "Thank you," I said. Kaliah moved away from my hug.

"_You can thank me later," _she said as she lifted her wings up and flapped away. I lifted my wings and flapped after her.

"_Bill! The bat escaped!" yelled Chorizo as the two jackrabbits ran behind him to Bill. Bill looked up at them confusingly. Then he looked at where Banshee once stood. "That's not all that's escaped!" yelled Bill, outraged. Then he looked up and saw Kaliah and Banshee flying away. Bill took out his gun and started firing. The others turned and saw the two bats and started firing as well. Kaliah and I screeched in pain as our wings were nicked by flying bullets. _

Kaliah and I screamed in pain. Our bleeding wings stopped flapping. We crashed to the ground. Pain shot through my body as I fell on my back. Kaliah fell on her stomach. She tried getting up, but her wings were in so much pain. She rested and started to lick the blood from her wings. Suddenly, our ears flicked up to the sounds of hammers being clicked back. I looked up and gasped.

Bill, Chorizo, Kinski and Stump had their guns aimed at our faces. Bill grabbed my right wing and pulled me up to his face. I winced and tilted my head back from his. I trembled in fear. Bill bared his teeth. "If I can't get someone to get rid of you, I'm gonna have to get rid of you _myself_!" he snapped angrily.

With that, he chucked me back to the ground. He aimed his gun close to my forehead. My body shook as my watery eyes stared up at the end of the gun. Kaliah's eyes widened in horror. She screeched and flapped her wings. Bill growled. "Get that bat and shut her up!" he snapped. Kinski, Chorizo and Stump ran over to where Kaliah was and grabbed her bleeding wings, holding her down. Stump wrapped his furry arms around her mouth, clamping it shut. Chorizo and Kinski used all their strength to pin down Kaliah's massive wings. Kaliah struggled and thrashed a couple times before collapsing in exhaustion.

Bill's eyes flickered over to Kinski, who was seen glaring at me. Waiting impatiently for me to die. His shoulders were raised, his body was tense, as if he was ready to spring foreward and attack. Bill smirked. "Kinski, come over here," he called. Kinski's eyes flickered from me to Bill. He looked over at the limp Kaliah before releasing her left wing and sauntering over to where Bill and I were.

Bill pulled Kinski's revolver out from his holster and handed it to him. He patted the hunchback jackrabbit's shoulder, careful not to touch his hump. "I think you should do the honors of killing this traitor, you seem so anxious to kill her," Bill said with a smirk on his face. Kinski nodded as he accepted his gun.

Bill stepped aside to give the hunchback jackrabbit more room. Kinski narrowed his eyes as he pressed the end of his gun to my forehead. More tears ran down my face. My wings were broken and limp. I couldn't seem to have the courage to scream at Kinski. Kinski bared his teeth as his finger slowly squeezed the trigger. "I meant all those things I said about you, Kinski," I finally said. Kinski's finger eased up on the trigger. His eyes flickered different emotions.

Stump and Chorizo looked over to us. Kaliah's head lifted up from the ground. Her ears pointed forward. Bill blinked in disbelief. I continued. "I really do think you are an amazing person…I know you've had a rough childhood and a tough life living as a criminal, but deep down, I can see that you are hurt, lost, and unwanted. I see more to you. You aren't a freak. I…" my voice faltered. I felt waves of heat hit me. No one said anything as they stared at me in disbelief.

Kinski's eyes widened behind his bangs. His mouth slightly open in shock. His left hand with the gun started to shake. Gradually, he lowered the gun. I could hear his heart pounding inside his chest. Kinski stared down at me with an unreadable look. I stared back up at him.

"She's lying, Kinski! Shoot her! Get it over with dammit!" yelled Bill, breaking the silence. Kinski blinked and looked over at Bill. Bill growled. "Shoot her!" he shouted again. Kinski's eyes flickered from me to Bill. He started to panic, not sure whether to listen to Bill, or to silently forgive me and let me live. "Kinski! If you don't shoot her in five seconds, I'll shoot her myself!" Bill roared. Kinski's eyes widened. His gun trembled in his shaking hand. I stared up at him. Tears started to form again.

At the corner of my eye, I noticed Stump and Chorizo watching us from where they stood. Still holding Kaliah down. Kaliah's eyes were wide, her ears pointed foreward.

"_Please, Kinski, Please don't kill Banshee. She cares for you," _I heard Kaliah whisper. Her wounded wings trembled.

Stump had loosened his grip on Kaliah's mouth. All his attention was focused on Kinski. Curious if the hunchback jackrabbit would shoot me. Chorizo's eyes flickered back and forth from Bill, to Kinski, to me. No one breathed. Bill narrowed his eyes at Kinski's shaking hand.

Finally, he got fed up with Kinski. He brought his hand back and struck Kinski's face. Kinski screamed in pain as he was forced backwards and fell to the ground. A gunshot was heard. I heard Kaliah screech. Her wings flapped. Stump and Chorizo snapped out of their state of shock and held her down. Gripping her tighter.

"_Noooo! Banshee!" _Kaliah screamed, fighting to break free from Stump and Chorizo's grasp.

My eyes widened as my wings instantly wrapped around my stomach. I collapsed. Kinski got up from the ground. He rubbed his hump, groaning in pain. He looked over to me and noticed something was wrong. He looked down at his gun. Smoke snaked out of the end. He gasped, dropping it as if it was hot to the touch. He looked over to me. Blood stained my grey shirt and wings. "No!" he screamed as he crawled over to me.

I winced as I clutched my stomach. I cried in pain. Shaking. Kinski lifted my face with his furry hands. I forced my eyes open. His face was scratched from Bill's claws. Blood seeped out from the claw marks. His eyes stared back to mine, fighting the tears back. "I-I'm sorry," he whispered. More blood gushed out from my stomach. I whimpered in pain, lowering my head.

Bill grinned. He grabbed Kinski by the collar and pulled him to his feet. "Come on, let's go, the outlaws will be at the mines any minute," he said as he pulled the hunchback jackrabbit to the wagon. Bill turned to Stump and Chorizo, who were still fighting with Kaliah. "Put that bat in the wagon, she's still useful to us," he said. Stump and Chorizo exchanged glances. They sighed and hauled Kaliah to the wagon. Kaliah stopped screeching. She gave up fighting Stump and Chorizo and went limp. When they got her in, they squeezed their way into the wagon where there was room.

Bill continued dragging Kinski to the wagon. Kinski struggled like a dog on a leash. His head turned to me one last time. I lifted my head to him. A small puddle of blood formed around me. Kinski's eyes were filled with shock and pain as he stared at me. Watching me suffer. Finally, he lowered his head in shame and guilt. His turned back and climbed up into the wagon. His long, disheveled hair hid his face. There was nothing he could do to stop the bleeding. I was going to die in a couple of minutes.

Bill climbed into the wagon and whipped the reins. The boar squealed and lurched forward. The wagon made its way back to the Abandoned Mines, leaving me in the middle of the hot desert to bleed to death…


	12. Chapter 12

_Stump and Chorizo looked over to Kinski, who stared down into his lap. His jacks clinked in his furry hands. His dishevelled hair ruffled a bit in the warm breeze, but still hid his face. Stump and Chorizo exchanged sad glances. Stump turned his head back to Kinski. He opened his mouth, but then closed it. The two decided to not talk to him, leave him to his thoughts. _

_Kaliah felt tears come down her face as she thought of Banshee, slowly dying. She lifted her head to Kinski, who sat next to her. She could sense his sadness, his pains. She sniffed the air. She was hesitant at first, but then nudged his shoulder with her head. Kinski turned his head to Kaliah. She blinked blindly up at him. Kinski stared back. _

_Silently, Kaliah moved her head and rested it on his lap. Over his hands and jacks. Kinski's eyebrows lifted at Kaliah, not sure what the bat was doing. Kaliah moved her head a bit, trying to get into a comfortable position. Kinski tensed up, but then relaxed. He remembered when Banshee told him she could understand the bat, and how she always hung out with her. Kinski slowly moved his left hand from under Kaliah's head. Hesitant, his furry hand gradually lowered on top of Kaliah's head. He ran his fingers over her fur, petting her. Kaliah smiled a small smile. _

_Kinski felt somewhat comforted as he ran his fingers over Kaliah's head. His heart that sat in his stomach lifted a bit. The wagon slowed to a stop as it reached the Abandoned Mines. Bill jumped off. Stump and Chorizo made their way around Kaliah's huge body and jumped off the wagon. Their eyes widened when they noticed Kaliah's head resting on Kinski's lap._

_Before Stump and Chorizo could say anything, Bill came around. "Git that bat off the wagon and git to work!" he snapped. Kaliah's head lifted. Kinski's head was still down, and had his hand on her head. Stump and Chorizo helped Kaliah down. Kinski didn't move from his spot. Bill grabbed the hunchback jackrabbit by one of his droopy ears and pulled him off. Kinski yelped in pain as he crashed to the ground. "Get up and go get those boxes out here!" he yelled to Kinski. Bill walked off. Kinski narrowed his eyes. He got up and wiped the dirt off the front of his longsleeve shirt. _

_Kinski turned his head where they left Banshee. His dirty pink nose twitched. A cool breeze ruffled his light colored fur. He noticed something riding across the way. Dust picked up as it ran across the horizon. Kinski blew some strands of hair out of his face. He squinted a bit, trying to make out what it was. His eyes widened. _

_It's Rango's posse! They were on roadrunners. They were going to save Banshee! Kinski's heart lifted from his stomach. A small smile formed on his face. _The posse will help her_…but then, Kinski felt his stomach twist. _What if it was too late? What if she's already dead? _Kinski pulled out his jacks again and fumbled with them. _

_Meanwhile…_

I twitched on the dirt ground, curled up in a ball. A pool of blood started to form around me. The bullet sunk deeper and deeper into my gut. I whimpered in agony as I tried prying the bullet out, but it was no use. I was going to die a slow, suffering death. I thought of all the citizens in the town of Dirt. I was given a mission to save the town that cared so much for me, and I'll never be able to repay them.

I closed my eyes. An imaginary battle played through my mind. Rango's posse was captured. Rango was being shot down by a gang. Everywhere, outlaws rode through the town with their guns raised high over their heads, chasing citizens. Bill stands at the entrance of the town with his henchmen, laughing hysterically at the bloodshed. My mind goes black for a minute, till it pulls up an image of Kinski. My eyes opened again as more tears trickled down my face at the thought of him. I cried. I cried for the citizens. I cried for Rango. I cried for Kaliah. I cried for Kinski. More blood spilled out. The bullet felt like it was twisting inside of me. I groaned.

Suddenly my ears perked up. Something was coming. I lifted my head. Waffles, Doc, and Wounded Bird stopped their roadrunners and came running up to me. "Banshee! Are you ok?" asked Doc as he went down on his knees and examined my wound. "Banshee! I'm so happy to see you again!" said Waffles excitedly and hugged me Doc gently pushed the horned lizard back. "Stand back, she's wounded," he said. Doc opened his black doctor's bag. He pulled out a couple instruments and placed them on the ground next to him.

Wounded Bird handed me a jug of water, which I instantly gulped down. Doc pulled out his own jug of water and poured the water over my wound. I screamed and thrashed in pain. Doc moved out of the way in time from my sonic screech. When I was done, he went right back to work. "Here, bite down on this," Doc said as he gave me a chunk of wood.

Wounded Bird and Waffles watched Doc as he used the tools to take out the bullet. My screams were muffled by the chunk of wood I had in my mouth, but it helped. My teeth bit down hard as the bullet was carefully scraped out. When the one eared rabbit was done, he placed medicine over my wound and wrapped fresh white bandages around my stomach. "Now, take it easy, ok?" he asked me. I nodded. Waffles helped me up. I spat the piece of wood from my mouth.

"H-how did you g-guys know I was h-here?" I asked them, wiping my mouth with the back of my wing. I was also very happy to see them. "Priscilla and Ricochet saw you get attacked by Kinski, Chorizo, and Stump," said Wounded Bird. "They instantly thought that they followed you to the town," said Doc. "They must've heard you confess, must've heard you confess!" repeated Waffles excitedly. "They instantly told Rango, and he told us to go and save you," said Doc. I smiled weakly up to them. "Thank you," I said. The three men helped me up on a roadrunner and we all started heading back to town.

_At the Abandoned Mines…_

"_Come on you bloats! Move it!" screamed Bill as he watched his gang carry the boxes of weapons out. Stump pulled Kaliah along by a rope tied around her neck. Two boxes of crates were tied to her back. "Sorry boss, the bat wont cooperate, and she's hurt," said the stumpy jackrabbit. "I don't care! Git going!" Bill yelled. Stump lowered his head and pulled Kaliah along. Kinski and Chorizo came out after them. Kinski carried two heavy boxes. He placed them down on the ground and groaned. _

"_How do you know if they're coming?" he asked. Chorizo placed his box down next to Kinski and sat on top if it. "_Si, _boss, what if they-" "Shut it!" roared Bill. The two outlaws flinched. "They're coming!" yelled Bill. As if on cue, the sound of a hundred stampeding roadrunners was heard behind Bill. Bill smirked at his wide eyed gang. He turned around and was face to face with an army of outlaws. "Ah, perfect timing," said Bill. _

_The outlaws sneered. "Where's the money, Bill?" asked an outlaw. Bill slid a box over to the outlaws and pried it open. "Right here, Gerome, just as I promised." Bill grinned to Gerome. Gerome, a black rat, revealed his sharp yellow teeth. Bill lifted the lid. The sea of outlaws stared down at the rolls of money. Bill closed the box. "But first, you must help me take over Dirt," he said. A couple members of a certain gang snickered. "I don't work like that, Bill. You pay me the money first… and then I'll work for you," said an outlaw, who was the leader of that certain group. He was a dark brown colored lizard, who wore a black coat and black hat. _

_Bill snorted. "I wasn't born yesterday, _Hector_, I know how you guys are," he said. Hector narrowed his eyes when the other gangs laughed. Bill smirked, "How about this, I'll have one of my gang members watch over the money." The outlaws stopped laughing. Hector got off of his roadrunner. His gang followed suit. _

_Hector snarled. "I wasn't born yesterday either, _William. _Let's leave the money with someone whom we could all trust? Yes?" asked Hector as he turned around to face everyone else. Everyone grunted in agreement. Bill bared his teeth. "Fine, who do you reckon we choose?" the Gila Monster asked. Hector rubbed his chin, thinking. _

"_How about Loyal? One of Blade's men?" offered Hector. Everyone turned to the mouse named Blade. Blade turned his head to his men behind him and snapped his fingers. With that, Loyal came out from the crowd of men. He was a light colored dog. He was short and wore a vest and a pair of dirty blue jeans. His gun sat snugly in its' holster as he came up to Bill. Bill shot Hector a silent glare before jerking his head over to his gang. "Git those boxes of money over there," ordered Bill. Kinski, Chorizo, Stump and Kaliah moved all the boxes that were filled with money over to where Bill wanted them. He turned back to Loyal. _

"_You stay here with those boxes and guard them, when the plan has been accomplished, you can go home with your share of the money, and that goes for everyone else," he said, looking up to all the other outlaws. The outlaws laughed as they raised their guns and shot a few rounds into the air. Bill grinned. When the army settled down, he pulled out another box. He pried it open. "And if you gents feel a bit light on weapons, I have enough to fill a chasm," said Bill. The outlaws eyes widened. Hector crossed his arms over his chest and gave Bill a look. "How bad do you want this little town?" he asked. Bill's evil grin widened, "very bad," he said._

_Armed and ready, the army of outlaws headed toward the town of Dirt. "Don't kill the citizens, and if you see the sheriff, bring him to me alive, I want to kill him myself," ordered Bill as he watched the gunslingers pass by him on their roadrunners. Two outlaws exchanged confused glances, then shrugged and left the abandoned mines. Each gang with half the amount of weapons Bill offered to them, were strapped down to their waists and roadrunners. _

_Seconds later, Kinski, Chorizo, and Stump came up to their leader and stood next to him. They watched the army till they were out of their sight. "Do you think the plan will work?" asked Stump Bill nodded. "Yes, it will work,," he said. _

_Meanwhile…_

I wrapped my wings around my bandaged stomach. Doc and I shared a roadrunner as we made out way back to the town. Waffles looked over to me. "Are you all right, Miss Banshee?" he asked. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. Wounded Bird gave me a look. His roadrunner made its way over to us and rode alongside Doc's roadrunner. He pulled out something from his dark colored Poncho and handed it to me.

"Eat," he said. I accepted the strange looking piece of food. "What is it?" I asked him. He pointed to the food. "Eat, help with pains," he said again. I blinked and shifted my eyes back to the piece of food. I shrugged and popped it into my mouth. I felt my eyes water and my throat close up. I choked and stuck my tongue out. "Ugh!" I said trying to spit it all out.

"No. Don't spit out. Eat," commanded Wounded Bird in his somber voice. I closed my mouth. My tongue instinctively pushed it forward, but I swallowed it down. My tongue lolled out of my mouth in disgust. The pains in my stomach lessened. I took a deep breath and exhaled. My mouth tasted like rotten apples. Waffles gave me a smile and handed me his jug of water. I accepted it and washed the taste out of my mouth.

"What was it like? Bein' with those gunslingers?" asked Doc. I sighed. "Horrible. Everyone hates you, you are close to death, and the only thing you can trust is your own gun," I said, biting my lower lip. Being an outlaw was tough. I was glad I didn't have to pretend to be one anymore. "We're sorry you had to be the one to join their gang," said Doc.

"Bill didn't know you," said Wounded Bird. Waffles smiled, "You were the only one!" he said happily. I nodded. "I know, but you guys have been so nice to me. You helped me start over, you have given me a name, and a home. I owe you guys my life," I said. The three men smiled.

We all turned our heads toward the town and gasped. My heart stopped. _Oh no!_ I screamed in my head. A hundred outlaws were seen riding their roadrunners right into the town. "The army," gasped Doc. Waffles started to panic. "The army! They're in the town! They're in the town!" he shouted. Wounded Bird calmed the short horned lizard down. "Don't scream, take deep breath," Wounded Bird instructed. Waffles obeyed and took a deep breath, and exhaled, slowing his breathing.

I stared at the town. My ears twitched at the faint sounds of screams and gunshots. The town was under attack. I narrowed my eyes. "We have to help them," I said, baring my teeth. My fangs jutted out. Wounded Bird, Waffles and Doc's eyes widened at me. "W-what?" asked Doc. I growled a low growl. My ears went back. "We're going to end this," I said through gritted teeth.

_At the town of Dirt…_

_The army of outlaws silently got off their roadrunners and scattered. Surrounding the town. Hector's men made their way along the back left side. Being cautious to not wake the sleeping citizens. "Why do you think Bill wants this stupid little town? It's small, the citizens are pathetic, and the bank has barely any money in it," said one of Hector's gang members. Hector sneered. _

"_He probably just wants something to gain control over, and this is the easiest town to take over," guessed Hector. The gang made their way around a building and "Then why does he have all of us do it?" asked a voice behind Hector and his gang. Hector turned his head. "Sneakin' up on us, Gerome ? Not a good idea," he teased. _

_Gerome smirked as he came up to Hector with his men tagging along behind him. "Why do you think he is making all of us do his dirty work? Why doesn't he get his men to do it?" asked Gerome again. Hector shrugged, "Dunno…but I know one thing," said Hector. Gerome turned his head. "What?" he asked. _

"_He was smart enough to get all of us to go against each other, for the money," said Hector. Suddenly, Hector's men whipped out their guns and fired at Gerome and his men. The gunslingers didn't have time to react as they were shot down. Gerome collapsed to the ground. His men faltered before collapsing with their leader. A pool of blood formed around the group. _

_Hector grinned mischievously. Just then an outlaw came up to the bodies. He gasped in horror. "What happened?" he asked Hector. Without answering, Hector lifted his hand. Instantly, his men fired at the outlaw. He collapsed on top of the other outlaws. From the sounds of the gunshots, all the citizens woke up and came out of their homes. The scattered out gangs made their move. They ran out onto main street and attacked the citizens. Rounding up as many as they could capture. The citizens screamed as they bolted in all directions, trying to escape the outlaws, but were instantly lassoed and tied down. "Put down yer weapons and no one gets hurt!" yelled Blade. A couple citizens dropped their weapons. _

_Just then, Rango, Beans, Spoons, Elgin, Mr. Furgus, Buford, Sergeant Turley, and Ambrose came running out of the jail/sheriff's office, each with a rifle in their arms. They fired as many bullets as they could. Twelve outlaws collapsed to the ground, but fifteen outlaws took their place with their weapons held high over their heads. Ambrose fired a couple more times till his rifle ran out of bullets. _

"_There's too many of them!" he shouted over the loud gun fires. "Retreat!" yelled Rango when his gun ran out of bullets. His posse didn't hesitate as they turned around and bolted down the street. Instantly, a whole crowd of outlaws blocked their way with their weapons aimed right at their faces. Rango and the others stopped dead in their tracks. They dropped their weapons and raised their hands over their heads nervously. "Git the sheriff!" snarled Blade, pointing to Rango. His gang obeyed and lassoed Rango down. One of Blades men jumped off and shoved the sheriff face down into the ground. Beans gasped and moved over to him. _Bang! _A bullet nearly grazed Beans' cheek. She screamed and looked up. Her eyes met Blade's gun. Blade growled. "Git back with the others!" he roared. Beans looked over to Rango before moving back to the posse. _

_Within minutes the whole town was being held hostage. Each gang stood in a different part of the town with a certain number of citizens. "Shut that brat up!" yelled an outlaw to the Rodent family. Mrs. Rodent tried to quiet down her little Petunia. Petunia cried and screamed in fear. Gunshots rang throughout the town, shutting up every group of citizens. "Is that all of them?" called a gunslinger to all the others. The outlaws looked around. _

_Just then, Hector turned his head to the sound of scuffling feet. He noticed a citizen running down the street. Behind him was an outlaw. Hector turned to one of his men. "Rye," he said the man's name. He silently jerked his head. Instantly, the man, named Rye ducked his head and made his way around the buildings, down the street after the two men. _

_The outlaw caught the man and shoved him up against the side of a building, away from the other gangs. He pulled out his gun and brought it close to the citizen's face. "Thought you could escape? you pathetic ass!" snarled the gunslinger. The citizen froze in terror. His eyes widened, but then flickered to behind the outlaw.__Rye appeared behind the outlaw. He put a finger to his lips, silently telling the scared citizen to be quiet. With that, he raised his gun and fired. The outlaw dropped dead. The citizen moved away from the dead outlaw and sighed with relief. _

"_Oh, thank y-" "Shut it!" snapped Rye as he grabbed the man's wrist. "If anyone askes, you shot him," said Rye, pointing to the dead outlaw on the ground. The man didnt answer. Rye sneered and dragged him down the street, back to Hector. He shoved the man down with the other citizens. Hector grinned. "The money is as good as ours," he said in a low voice to his men. _


	13. Chapter 13

**Warning**_**: **_**This chapter is kind of gory. Hope you enjoy.**

Wounded Bird, Waffles, Doc and I dismounted our roadrunners when we got near the town. We crept along the outside of the buildings, away from Main Street. The outlaws were seen threatening the citizens with their new weapons. I narrowed my eyes when I saw one of the outlaws laugh at Ricochet as he trembled in fear. A couple other outlaws came around and started to harass him with their guns. In a different area, Two outlaws were seen jabbing their rifles at Rango. Petunia kept crying. Mrs. Rodent tried to keep her quiet as an outlaw shoved his gun against her face. I growled a low growl.

A wing touched my shoulder. I looked up. Wounded Bird shook his head. "Not yet," he whispered. I sighed silently and nodded. I couldn't take down all the outlaws at once, we had to think of a plan. I was jumping ahead of myself. We went inside a building from the back door.

We silently made our way through the house, lightly touching the floorboards before pressing our weight on it and moving on. Waffles whispered 'sorry' every time he stepped on a squeaky floorboard. Finally, we found a place. The outlaws couldn't see us through the windows. We kept out voices low as we sat down and figured out a plan.

"We have to figure out a way to take down the outlaws," said Doc. Waffles started to shake "How? There's so many of them! We can't fight all of them-!" started Waffles. "Shh!" Wounded Bird and I shushed. Waffles closed his mouth, he calmed himself down. "Sorry," he said in a low voice. My ears twitched to the sounds from outside. I could hear a couple citizens crying and praying. I heard a couple outlaws were heard clicking their hammers back on their guns to shut the citizens up. Thankfully they didn't hear Waffles.

"We have to figure out a way to get them to separate from each other, then we take them down one by one," I said. We talked in low voices as we figured out a plan. When our plan was worked out, we all stood up.

_Crash!_ We all froze and turned. Waffles' eyes were wide. "Sorry," he said, picking up the chair he accidentally knocked over. I peeked my head out from behind the corner to the window. Outside, the gang members were staring right at the building we were in. "We got to get out of here," I whispered to Doc, Wounded Bird and Waffles. We briskly, but quietly made our way to the back door.

"_Go search the building," said a gang leader to three of his members. The men obeyed. Blade pointed to two of his men and they made their way to the building. Hector grinned as he watched the six men file into the building. He turned back to his men and picked out three of his men. The three men followed right after the gang of six into the building. _

The nine outlaws searched. We sat just outside the building, hiding behind a couple barrels. I would occasionally lift my head up and peer through the window to the outlaws. When two got close to our hiding spot, I went back down and crouched lower. Thankfully, they left where we were hiding and kept looking inside the building.

"_Are there any citizens down there?" asked one of Hector's men as two came up from the basement. The two shook their heads. "No-" Bang! Bang! The two fell down dead. Suddenly, a gunshot was heard from above. An outlaw came tumbling down the stairs. A pool of blood formed around his lifeless body. Seconds later, two of Hector's men came down the stairs. Smoke trailed out of the end of their rifles. _

_Suddenly, the sound of footsteps was heard. A gang member from a different gang bolted into the room Hector's men were in. "I heard shooting. What happened?" he asked. All three of Hector's men raised their rifles and pumped him full of lead. _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ The gunslinger fell down dead. _

_The three laughed. "Man, these guys are so stupid," said one. The other two just kept laughing. Suddenly, two outlaws came out from behind the wall and shot the laughing men. Hector's men fell down dead. The two men from Blade's gang smirked. "We were just gonna say the same thing to you guys," said one of them. Then they left the building. _

Wounded Bird and I exchanged glances. They were killing each other. "Money," I whispered to Wounded Bird. He nodded. "Greed." he said. I looked over to Doc and Waffles, who were both thinking the same thing. _If they are killing each other off, how many remain? _I wondered. I decided not to worry about it any longer as Wounded Bird, Doc, Waffles, and I got up from our hiding spot and made our way around the building.

* * *

"_Hector, where's Skimp? He didn't come back when yer gang member, Rye, came back with that citizen," asked a gang leader, a blonde haired cat wearing jeans held up by suspenders. Hector lit a cigar and placed it into his mouth. "Skimp? He didn't come back?" asked Hector innocently. _

_The gang leader snarled. At lightning speed, he grabbed Hector by the front of his shirt. "Don't play stupid with me you ass!" the gang leader snapped. Hector socked the gunslinger in the face. The leader loosened his grip on Hector's shirt and fell backwards. Hector took out his cigar. _

"_Shut it, Klaus! He ain't my man! You should watch yer bastards more closely! Why don't you go and look for 'im then!" shouted Hector. The gang leader, named Klaus looked up at Hector with pure hatred. His nose was broken with blood oozing out. Klaus knew something was wrong with Hector. He never got angry at anyone… only unless it had to do with money. Klaus cursed under his breath. _Damn, the money, _thought Klaus as he got up from the ground. He spat a long stream of tobacco to his right side as he glared at Hector. "You killed him," said Klaus. _

_Hector glared back at Klaus. He crushed his cigar in his hand. "I did no such thing," said Hector as he dropped the cigar remains to the ground. Klaus bared his teeth. His blonde bangs fell over his eyes. "You made Rye kill him!" he shouted. A couple gunslingers turned. Hector didn't flinch. "You are killing us so you can get yer hands on the money! You want a bigger share!" snapped Klaus, his ears flicked back and his lips curled back, revealing his fangs. _

_Hector looked over to everyone else, then back to the cat. Before Hector could say anything, Klaus attacked. Hector was shoved to the ground. He screamed in pain as Klaus pinned him down to the ground and started to claw at his face. Hector jerked his head and kicked his legs frantically. He reached for his gun that landed inches away from his hand. Klaus snarled as he slashed at Hector's face. Hector used his free hand to hit Klaus as he stretched his other hand for his gun. The outlaws watched the two fought. Some exchanged glances, not sure whether to stop them, or to just let them fight to the death. _

_Finally, Hector grabbed his gun and shot Klaus in the stomach. Klaus gasped. His claws stopped inches from Hector's face. Hector narrowed his eyes and shoved the limp cat off him. Klaus fell to the dirt road. A pool of blood formed around him. His wide, pale blue eyes were still open. Hector slowly got up from the ground. He used the end of his shirt to wipe the fresh blood from his face. Claw marks were seen raked across his face in deep red gashes. _

_He looked up at the other outlaws. He looked over at the dead Klaus one last time before pulling out another cigar and lighting it. "Crazy bastard," muttered Hector as he left the circle, back to his gang. The gunslingers stared down at the dead Klaus. _

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"_Shut it!" snarled an outlaw as he used the butt of his rifle to hit someone in the head. The citizen screamed in pain and fell to his side. The posse sat cross legged on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Hector's outlaw, Rye, watched them. Rango's posse listened to a couple of the gunslingers' conversations. _

"_When do ya think Bill's comin?" asked one outlaw to another. The other one shrugged. "Dunno, but he'd better hurry, I hate havin' to stand here all day, this "baby sittin'" is as boring as hell." _

_Elgin watched Rye as he eyed them. He sneered at Elgin when he noticed him glaring. When Rye's eyes flickered away from him, Elgin silently pulled out a small gun out from his boot. When the outlaw's back was fully turned, he got up and wrapped one of his arms around the man. _

_The outlaw tried to scream, but was cut off then he felt the nose of the gun digging deep into his back. "You scream. I pull the trigger." snarled Elgin. The outlaw's eyes instantly widened and dropped his gun. Elgin tilted his head to the posse. "Go," he said. The shocked posse quickly got up and scattered. _

"_The citizen's are escaping!" yelled Rye. Elgin jabbed the end of the gun deeper into Rye's back, but it was too late. Elgin felt the end of a gun against his temple. "Let Rye go," muttered a gruff voice. Elgin cursed under his breath and loosened his grip on Rye. Rye snickered as he moved away from Elgin. The gunslingers ran after the posse. _

Doc watched from the shadows as the posse bolted in different directions. The outlaws chased them down. Ambrose was tackled down. Buford screamed in pain as bullets nicked his right shoulder. He slowed down and was captured. Mr. Furgus and Sergeant Turley's legs were lassoed. They both tripped and fell. Spoons and the rest of the posse were jumped on and pinned down to the ground.

Beans screamed as she was grabbed by her hair and chucked down next to the rest of the posse. One of Hector's men pointed a gun at the posse. Everyone's eyes widened and went quiet.

"Don't anyone scream or make a sound!" hollered Hector's man. Doc sneered as he came out and stood in the middle of the street. He raised his rifle from behind the outlaw and fired. _Bang! _Hector's gang member collapsed. Doc lowered his rifle. He bolted away when six members of a gang ran after him.

Waffles and Wounded hid on opposite sides of the street. When Doc ran past them and the gang appeared, they shot them. The remaining gangs gasped at the sight. The posse took their chance and ran. The gang members chased after them again.

The posse had a head start and grabbed a couple discarded guns. They turned and fired at the gunslingers as they ran. Five gunslingers collapsed to the ground and died. The rest of the gunslingers pulled out their guns and fired. Beans fired at the three men who held Rango prisoner.

She ran to him. "Rango!" she called and went down on her knees. Rango lifted himself up from the ground. He coughed and looked up at Beans. He smiled as he got up and lifted Beans up from the ground. Beans and Rango snapped out of their gaze as more gunshots were heard. Citizens scattered as the gang members were shot to the ground. Gunslingers brought out their guns and fired at the running citizens.

* * *

_Elgin took his chance. He grabbed the gun from a distracted outlaw and shot him. _Bang! _He whipped and shot the other outlaws around him. _Bang! Bang! Bang! _The gunslingers fell to the ground. Elgin sneered as he whipped himself around. Rye was halfway down the street. Elgin aimed and fired. _Bang! _Rye went down. He screamed as he clutched his bleeding leg. _

_Elgin slowly walked to the screaming outlaw as citizens and other gang members ran and collapsed around him. Rye looked up at the black bobcat. He bared his teeth angrily. "What are you lookin' at? Kill me already!" Rye screamed. Elgin didn't kill him. Rye screamed in pain some more. "Kill me!" Rye screamed again. Elgin didn't flinch as he glared down at him. Blood poured out of Ryes leg. Elgin watched the outlaw suffer till he was fed up with it. He raised the gun and shot Rye. Rye's head lowered. His eyes wide open, but cold and lifeless. His body went limp. He was dead._

* * *

Main Street was filled with chaos. Blood was spilt, bodies twisted and went limp on the dirt road. Roadrunners screamed and bolted in all directions from the gunshots. Citizens were shot down and wounded. I ran and helped Ricochet and Priscilla and led them out of the chaos. After that, I made my way to the Rodent Family. They gave me a look of fear, but then relaxed. I led the way as bullets whizzed past us. The family filed into a building and stayed there.

A couple citizens fought back as they grabbed a couple guns from the dead bodies of outlaws and began firing. The gunslingers pulled out more weapons and fired back. Bullets flew through the air and tore through flesh and bone. Blood squirted out of a citizen that stood next to me. I screamed at a gang. They were sent flying backwards, tumbling down the street. I doubled over and wrapped my wings around my bleeding stomach.

Doc grabbed my shoulders and led me to a nearby building. A couple citizens charged the fallen gunslingers. The battle wore on. Doc swung the door open and led me inside a room full of citizens. They whimpered in fear. Parents held their children tightly. Husbands comforted their wives. Loud series of gunshots were heard, deafening everyone. .

I flinched as Doc placed more medicine over my wound and wrapped more bandages. I looked out the window to the battle. A bullet shattered the window, startling everyone. Screams and shouts were heard over the gunshots. Blood splattered against the windows. I got up, but Doc forced me to lay down. "No, you must-" he started. Suddenly, Rango barged in. "Doc! We need yer help!" he said, panicking. Doc got up and rushed out the door. Rango ran right behind him. Right after they left, I slowly eased myself up and made my way to the door.

_Hector clutched his right shoulder as he made his way to the roadrunners. All his gang members were dead. Hector sneered as he got up and rode out. "That money is mine," he sneered as he rode toward the Abandoned Mines. A couple other gangs jumped onto their roadrunners and rode away. They didn't care about the money anymore, all they wanted was to get out of the town. _

I walked outside and stopped. The battle was gradually dying away. The remaining outlaws were bolting to their roadrunners and fleeing the town. I sighed with relief. Lots of blood stained the road. It was a horrific scene to see.

Just then, I noticed Bill standing at the other end of the street. He just arrived at the scene. The dead bodies of outlaws littered the ground. His eyes flickered over to mine. He gasped in shock and rage. I was alive. "Goddammit!" He screamed and cursed a couple more times. I stared back at him. I slowly walked and stopped in the middle of the street. Stump and Chorizo stood beside Bill and growled at me angrily.

When I noticed that Kinski wasn't with them, I started to worry. Bill bared his teeth. "How many times do I have to try to kill you?" Bill screamed at me as he raised his gun. "I have to do everything _myself_ these days!" he shouted in frustration and fired a couple rounds.

I jumped out of the way in time behind a barrel. The bullets erupted over my head, going right through the wood and leaving holes. I pressed my wings over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut. Clicks were heard after the gunshots. I sighed with relief and got up.

I froze when I noticed Stump and Chorizo aim their guns at me. _Click! _Stump cursed angrily. His guns were out of bullets. My eyes shifted over to Chorizo. Chorizo growled angrily. His eyes flashed red. He aimed his gun at me. "_I never miss_," Chorizo's voice echoed in my head. I stood there, frozen stiff, staring wide eyed at the shrew. Chorizo sneered as he raised his guns. I held my breath, my heart pounding fast.

Suddenly, Chorizo's eyebrows raised. He lowered his gun and took a step back. Stump and Bill did the same. I turned my head and found Rango, Beans, Waffles, Wounded Bird, Spoons, Elgin, Mr. Fugus, Ambrose, Buford, Sergeant Turley, Doc, and the rest of the citizens of Dirt standing right behind me. Their weapons cocked and aimed right at Bill's face.

Bill and his henchmen took a step back from the townspeople. Fear filled their eyes. I turned back to the outlaws and narrowed my eyes. Their eyes flickered down to me. With that, they bolted back to their wagon and rode away till they were out of sight. The citizens cheered. Rango hugged Beans. "We did it!" he shouted.

Everyone whooped and jumped for joy. "Did ya see the look on Bill's face?" laughed a citizen. "Bad Bill and his men wont be comin' here anymore!" said another. The citizens laughed. They defeated Bill and foiled his plan. As everyone walked away and started to help the wounded, I stopped in my tracks.

_Kaliah, they still have Kaliah, _a voice rang in my head. I felt my heart skip a beat. I turned my head back to where the faint outline of where the Abandoned Mines was. I had to save Kaliah. Just then, a wandering roadrunner appeared in my sight. It must have been one of the outlaws' roadrunner. I smiled. I approached the roadrunner with caution. I climbed up on the roadrunner and swung my leg over. I steered it toward the Abandoned Mines and whipped the reins. The roadrunner picked up speed and made its way toward the Abandoned Mines.

* * *

_At the Abandoned Mines…_

_Kinski stared up at Kaliah. His arms rested on the fence that bordered the stables. Bill told him to stay and watch over the bat, and Loyal. Bill didn't trust Loyal at all. Kinski turned his head to the dog. Loyal sat on the boxes of money, his hands clasped in his lap. He stared straight ahead in the direction of the town, waiting patiently for his leader to come back. Kinski rolled his eyes and looked back at Kaliah. _

_Kaliah hung from the rafters in sadness. Her wings were limp and sore. She was still in pain from when the gang shot her down. Kinski fished his jacks out and fumbled with them. At the corner of his eye, he noticed Loyal staring at him. Kinski narrowed his eyes and faced the dog. _

"_What are you lookin' at?" he snarled. Loyal quickly averted his eyes away from the hunchback jackrabbit. Kinski grunted and turned his head back to his game. He blew a couple strands of bangs out of his face. After a while, Kinski finally placed his jacks back into his pocket. He stared at the end of the rope that was tied to the stable and then followed it up to where the other end was tied to Kaliah's foot. He picked at the knots that were tied to the stable, loosening them a bit. Kaliah lifted her head, her ears pricked up at the small sounds. _

_Suddenly, Kinski stopped when he heard something coming. Loyal's ears perked up. A roadrunner was seen coming. Kinski walked down the hill and watched as the roadrunner approached the mines. It was Hector. Kinski blinked in confusion. Hector slowed his roadrunner down when he got close to the dog and hunchback jackrabbit. He jumped off and clutched his right shoulder in pain. He straightened up and staggered over to Loyal. _

"_Where is everyone?" asked Loyal. Hector winced as a jolt of pain ran up and down his right arm. He narrowed his eyes at Loyal. "They're gone," he said. Loyal's eyes widened. "All of them?" he asked. Hector shook his head as he raised his gun. "Not all," he said. _Bang!_ Loyal collapsed to the ground. _

_Kinski gasped, his eyes widened at Hector. He took a step back. His fingers touched his gun. Hector whipped around to Kinski. He raised his gun to the hunchback jackrabbit. A creepy evil grin appeared on Hector's face. "Don't worry, I didn't ferget about you," he said. Kinski froze in his tracks. He removed his hand from his gun. Hector's evil grin widened as he pulled the hammer back. His finger slowly squeezed the trigger. _

_Just then, Hector felt three barrels shove up against the side of his temple. His finger eased up on the trigger. Kinski sighed with relief. "You have five seconds to git the hell out of here," said a gruff voice behind Hector. Hector slowly lowered his gun. The barrels of the three guns slowly eased away from his temple. Without hesitating, Hector bolted to his roadrunner and fled. When he was out of sight, Bill turned to his henchmen. _

"_Git those boxes of money and put 'em back inside!" ordered Bill. Stump and Chorizo obeyed. Bill whipped his head to Kinski, who flinched. "Git yer ass over 'ere and help!" he shouted. Kinski shuffled over and helped with the boxes of money. "What happened?" he asked Stump and Chorizo. The two short men didn't answer him as they picked up a box. They muttered angrily under their breath. _

_Suddenly, the sound of flapping was heard. Bill turned his head. Kaliah was flapping and screeching. The rope was loose, and she was trying to escape. "Goddammit! Git that bat!" shouted Bill. Chorizo was the first to react and ran to Kaliah. The female bat screeched and flapped her wings angrily as Chorizo grabbed the rope. He cursed in Spanish as he tried keeping the bat from flying away. _

"_Ug! Guys! A little help!" he shouted. Kinski and Stump dropped the boxes they held in their arms and ran over to help him. They ran into the stable and pinned the bat's wings down. Kaliah fought them till all her strength left her. Chorizo tied the rope that was still connected to Kaliah to the stable. Knotting the rope tightly. Kaliah screeched weakly and licked her wings. Stump and Kinski left the stable and sat down in exhaustion. "Hurry up you bloats!" yelled Bill. Stump, Kinski and Chorizo sighed as they walked down the hill to their boss. _

_They each grabbed a crate of money and filed into their hideout. "I don't understand why we still have that bat, she's hard to control, lets just let her go," said Stump. Bill slapped the jackrabbit upside the head, "No! we're not getting rid of the bat! Not yet! You stupid-Jake!" screamed Bill in shock as he entered the hideout. Rattlesnake Jake was seen in the middle of their hideout. He was waiting for them. Bill's gang looked up and gasped in horror at the snake. The boxes of money slipped from their fingers and crashed to the floor. Jake hissed angrily._

_Instantly, the gang fought their way back the way they came. Shoving each other out of the way and pulling each other back to get to the entrance first. Jake bared his fangs and hissed loudly. At lightning speed, his tail flicked around and whipped the gang members from the exit and covered it with his tail. The gang rubbed the back of their heads and groaned. They gasped when Jake's outraged face appeared in front of theirs. They were trapped. _


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14! yay! I love how this chapter turned out. One more chapter to go!**

* * *

_Jake's flaming eyes glared down on the trembling gunslingers. "Where is the bat, Bill? Where's the soul you promised me?" he roared at the Gila Monster. _

_Jake's long body moved around the room, rubbing up against the crumbling walls and destroying the gang's possessions. Bill's legs shook as he stared up at the snake. His comrades hid behind him, shaking and averting their eyes from Jake. _

_After waiting for Bill to answer, Jake hissed angrily and smacked the gang across the room. The gang crashed against their belongings and skidded along the cold hard ground, to the other side of the room. _

_Kinski screamed in pain as he landed on his deformity. Blood gushed out from Stump's mouth. Chorizo winced in pain as he cradled his bleeding arm. Bill groaned in pain as he sat upright and rubbed his sore head. _

_Jake hissed angrily again as he reared back. "Where is the bat?" he screamed, getting ready to attack. Bill's eyes widened in fear. He quickly got up and placed his arms up in front of him. _

_"Jake! Stop! Please!" he said. Jake held his tail high in the air. He stopped and glared down at the Gila Monster. Bill felt the heat from Jake's firey eyes. "Sh-she's g-gone," said Bill, "At the t-town, you can f-find her there!" said Bill, fumbling his fingers nervously. _

_Jake snarled in rage. He didn't want to chase down the bat. She could've already have flown out of town by now, and Jake didn't want to go on a wild goose chase. Bill enraged him. _

_"You disgust me, Bill! You and yer pathetic little gang! I should've killed you bastards when you first arrived in this place!" Jake roared as his eyes scanned over Kinski, Chorizo and Stump. Stump and Kinski trembled behind Bill, their fur sticking up at the backs of their necks. Chorizo's eyes were wide and his legs shook. _

_Jake's flaming eyes focused back to Bill. "I think yer heads are worth more to me then that stupid female demon- eyed freak!" Jake shouted. The gang gasped in terror. _

_With that, Jake revealed his fangs, dripping with poison, and lunged. The gang quickly snapped out of their frozen state of shock. They screamed and dodged out of the way. Jake's face crashed into the wall. He reared back, shook his head, and attacked again. _

* * *

I arrived where Kaliah was being held hostage. I jumped off the roadrunner and made my way up the hill to the stables. When I got to the stables, I looked up and noticed that there was something wrong with Kaliah.

Kaliah flapped around inside. She flapped as far as the rope would let her. She screeched, her eyes wide with fear. "Kaliah? What's wrong?" I asked her. Kaliah wouldn't calm down. She kept panicking and screaming as she tried breaking free.

"_Something's happening! A large creature is inside the mines! I hear screaming!" _she shrieked.

I turned my head to the mines. Suddenly, loud gunshots erupted from inside the hideout. Kaliah shrieked and flapped her wings harder. I winced and clamped my wings over my ears from the loud gunshots. When they ceased, I quickly untied the ropes that bound Kaliah's feet. Kaliah screeched and flew away.

After I freed Kaliah, I ran down to the entrance of the hideout. It was blocked. I gasped in horror. Scales. It was a snake. Rattlesnake Jake. I heard more screaming and crashing. The gang was inside. Trapped. I hesitated.

_Should I save them? After all the horrible things they have done to the innocent citizens of Dirt? _My legs were stuck. I couldn't move. Suddenly, an image of Kinski appeared in my head. My stomach churned.

* * *

_Bill jumped out of the way in time as Jake fired a couple bullets. The gang scattered, trying to find a place to hide behind. Jake fired a couple more rounds at the gang, but missed and lodged themselves into the walls. Kinski wasn't doing so well. He rubbed his deformity as he tried moving away from Jake. _

_Jake noticed the slow-moving hunchback jackrabbit limping away. He growled as he lifted his tail and flicked it. Kinski was knocked down by Jake's tail. He crumpled to the floor, gasping and coughing. Blood trickled down his face as he stared up, wide eyed in horror at the snake outlaw. _

_Jake bared his fangs as he lifted his tail gun. He aimed his gun right up to Kinski's face, barely touching Kinski's hair. A small, sly smile formed on Rattlesnake Jake's mouth. Kinski turned his head to the side and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the bullets to bite into his flesh. _

_Suddenly, a loud, ear-splitting scream erupted through the mines. Jake roared with rage. His body was shoved to the side and crashed against the other side of the wall. _

_Kinski opened is eyes in confusion. He turned his head, finding Jake up against the wall, coiling and uncoiling in pain from the impact. Jake's body twisted some more, then he became unconscious._

* * *

I landed on what remained of the table and chairs inside the hideout. The hideout was beyond destroyed. Everything was broken in millions of pieces and scattered across the room. The gang's couches and bed were ripped and shredded. Crates were crushed and beyond repair.

Just then, I spotted Kinski on the ground, staring up at me, His wide eyes hidden behind his long bangs. He blinked in disbelief. I walked over to him and extended my wing out for him. He didn't budge. He was in shock. I knelt down and carefully helped him up. He got to his feet, wincing in pain as he rubbed his hump.

After I helped him up, his eyes stared into mine. He was flabbergasted, his mouth opened, but no sound came out. I could hear his heart beating fast. Finally, he found his voice, "Y-yer…alive," he said. I smiled a small smile and nodded.

Kinski lifted his left shaking hand. He hesitated, then touched the side of my face gently. I felt the tips of my ears heat up from his touch. Kinski stared at me in disbelief. His eyes flickered in surprise and confusion. I could see in his eyes that he was trying to figure it out.

His mind going back to when he accidentally shot me in the stomach, and was left out in the middle of nowhere. Bleeding to death…I was not a ghost, I was alive.

Just then, his eyes flickered away from my eyes and past my face. His furry fingers fell away from my face. He turned his head away, his eyes disappeared behind his bangs. With that, he slowly moved to the farthest end, near the wall. In his hands, he held his jacks, to comfort him.

I turned my head and noticed Bill, Stump and Chorizo peeking out from their hiding spots behind me. Their eyes wide in shock and disgust. They saw the whole thing. It enraged them. I looked away in embarrassment.

Just as I did, Jake's body moved. He groaned as he slowly lifted his head from the debris. He shook his head causing bits of wall to fall down to the floor. More dust clouded around him. When it finally settled down, Jake hissed furiously. He cocked his gun, cursing under his breath.

"Whoever did that I'm gonna-" he started as he whipped around. Jake stopped in mid sentence when he found me standing in front of him. His eyes flickered a hint of surprise. I was the one who caused him to crash into the wall and knock him out. Jake blinked, but then narrowed his eyes. He hissed angrily. I stared up at him. Jake flicked his tongue out. The flames in his eyes settled down.

"Banshee, right? Yer the bat they named Banshee," said Jake, finally realizing who I really was. My heart stopped. I didn't know that people outside of town would actually know who I was and what I could do.

I have only been living in the town of Dirt for almost a week and a half. News travels fast. I nodded nervously. His eyes were hard to read. I couldn't tell if he was either scared, amazed, or outraged.

Suddenly, Jake bared his fangs and lunged. I quickly jumped out of the way in time and ran. Jake hissed angrily and lunged again. Bill, Stump and Chorizo ducked back behind their hiding spots.

Kinski crouched in his small corner. I jumped out of the way when Jake lunged for me again. I made my way around a destroyed couch and over to Kinski. I grabbed his arm.

"Come on, lets get out of here!" I said to him. Kinski pocketed his jacks and got up. We both ran for the exit. Jake hissed and flicked his tail. Kinski and I were flung backwards and crashed into a wall.

Kinski screamed in pain, but then blacked out. His body collapsed next to mine. Pain shot all over my body, but I ignored it as I struggled to get up and help Kinski. Suddenly, at lightning speed, Jake swatted me away from the hunchback jackrabbit. I crashed to the other side of the room. My bandages around my stomach were unravelling.

Fresh blood oozed out of my old wounds. Bruises started to darken on my wings. I coughed and gasped for air. Jake hissed as his long, snake body wrapped around me. I screamed but it was cut off short when his coils tightened.

I looked over to Bill, Stump, and Chorizo, who had moved out from their hiding spots, and over to the unconscious hunchback jackrabbit. They looked up at me and gasped when Jake's coils tightened.

I felt all the air escape out of my lungs. A small scream escaped my lips. Jake hissed as he raised his tailgun to my face. I stopped struggling, my eyes went wide. Jake's mouth revealed a row of small, sharp teeth. My eyes couldn't stay open for long. The darkness started to eat away at the corners of my eyes...

...

"_Kinski! Kinski! Wake up, boy!" yelled a voice. Kinski opened his eyes and groaned. Stump, Bill, and Chorizo stood over him. They helped him up. Kinski rubbed his deformity and winced in pain. He looked up and noticed Banshee in Jake's coils. Her eyes were shut tight and her mouth slightly open, needing air. The rattlesnake lifted his gun and aimed it right for her face. _

* * *

_Click! _

I opened one eye. Jake blinked. The flames in his eyes died down as he turned his focus to his tail gun. He cursed, realizing that he used up the last of his bullets. Jake lowered his gun and tightened his coils around me. I felt my organs exploding in my body. Jake grinned in amusement. His flaming eyes watched me suffer.

Suddenly I heard a gunshot. _Bang! _Jake's head reared back. He screamed in pain, loosening his coils around me. Air rushed back into my lungs as I crashed to the ground. My mind slipped in and out of consciousness.

I rolled my eyes up to where I heard the gunshot. I saw Bill, Stump, and Chorizo let go of Kinski's arms. They moved back, their eyes wide with shock as they stared at Kinski.

Kinski stood. His eyes were narrowed behind his bangs as he held his gun in his left hand, still aimed right at Jake. Smoke snaked out of the end of the barrel. I turned my head slightly over to Jake. His body twisted and curled in pain.

Lodged deep into his soft white belly, was a bullet. Blood dribbled out of the hole. Jake hissed and cried out in agony. My eyes flickered back to Kinski with surprise. He shot Jake.

Jake jerked and twisted in pain. Finally, his eyes fell down to the gang. He noticed Kinski with his gun aimed at him. Jake narrowed his eyes and growled, but then stopped when he noticed Kinski's eyes focused on me.

Jake looked down at me. I laid in front of his bleeding, curled up body. Jake roared as he lunged at Kinski. Bill, Stump and Chorizo screamed as they scattered away.

Kinski was shoved to the ground. He screamed in pain as Jake placed his tail gun on top of him. The weight of the gun pressed down onto Kinski's chest, thus cutting off his circulation.

Kinski thrashed and screamed in pain. His deformity sent jolts of pain up and down his body. His gun fell out of his hand and skidded across the floor. Kinski screamed till all the air was out of his lungs. His eyes widened, then slowly flickered back to Jake. Jake's face appeared inches from his. Kinski stopped thrashing. I struggled to get up, but my head throbbed in pain.

Just then, my ears perked up to the sound of flapping wings. Jake turned his head, just as Kaliah came into the hideout. Kaliah screeched and attacked Jake. Jake screamed in pain as Kaliah used her sharp teeth and claws to tear into Jake's eyes. Jake reared his head back. Jake moved away from the hunchback jackrabbit.

When the tail gun lifted, Kinski gasped for air and sat bolt upright. He gasped and coughed. His chest rising and falling. His head slowly turned to me. He got up and carefully walked toward me.

He collapsed next to me and started breathing heavily. His hand clutched his chest in pain. He coughed and gasped for air. Blood dribbled out of his mouth. I lifted my bleeding wings to him. Kinski coughed some more. He stopped when he felt my wings touch his face.

Above us, Kaliah continued attacking Jake. Jake screamed in pain. He lashed his head back and forth, trying to get away from Kaliah.

I turned my head and noticed Bill, Chorizo and Stump making their way to the exit. Jake was distracted, and they were taking their chances. Kinski turned his head. He watched his friends carefully walk around the huge snake and toward the exit.

Kinski gently lifted me up and carried me away from Jake's thrashing body and toward the exit. Kinski followed right behind Bill, Stump and Chorizo as they bolted out of the hideout.

The sun sank low behind the mountains. The cold, outside air rushed into my lungs. Stump and Chorizo stayed a good distance away from Kinski and me. Bill disappeared over the hills.

Kinski carefully placed me down, then collapsed down next to me. His chest was rising and falling again, he wasn't doing so well. He coughed and some blood dribbled out of his mouth. He wiped the blood with the back of his sleeve. His body shook in pain.

His breathing gradually slowed as he stared down at me. His bleeding face twitched. I blinked a slow blink as I stared back up to him. His furry hand touched my wing. My other wing lifted and rested on his furry hand. I smiled weakly. Kinski smiled a small shy smile behind his bangs.

He stopped smiling when he noticed Stump and Chorizo giving him disgusted looks. Kinski averted his eyes from me. He removed his furry hands from my wings. His left hand dug into his pocket. He fished his jacks out and fumbled with them.

Just then, Bill came back down the hill in the wagon. He pulled the reins. The pig squealed and stopped the wagon next to us. Stump and Chorizo came up to Kinski and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Come on Kinski, let's go," said Stump in a gruff voice. Kinski shrugged their hands from his shoulders and growled. Stump and Chorizo ignored him as they gripped him tightly and jerked him backwards from me. Kinski snarled with rage and swatted them away. Stump and Chorizo pulled the hunchback jackrabbit to his feet and toward the wagon.

Kinski swore and screamed as he jerked violently from side to side. He used his arms to hit his friends but missed. Stump and Chorizo gritted their teeth as they pulled him. Kinski looked over to me. His eyes were filled with insanity and fear. He reached his arms out for me, but was instantly jerked back.

I tried getting up, but a jolt of pain coursed through my body, forcing me to lie back down. "No," I said weakly. Tears trickled down my face as I watched Kinski being pulled away from me.

Kinski screamed and flailed his arms. He kicked Stump in the stomach, but it didn't knock him down. Stump grabbed one of Kinski's ears and yanked. Kinski yelped in pain, Little by little, they pulled Kinski closer to the wagon. When they were within arms reach, Bill jumped down from the wagon and grabbed Kinski roughly by the collar. Kinski strained and fought.

Kinski screamed and clawed the air as he was shoved into the wagon. I watched, tears came down my eyes at the painful scene. Just then, Kinski stopped fighting. His ears perked up to a sound. Stump and Chorizo stopped and listened as well.

My ears swivelled, straining to hear the sound the men heard, but all I could hear was a ringing sound. I rolled my head over to where the possible sound was coming from. I squinted. Faintly in the distance were roadrunners. The posse. Kinski turned his head back to me. I turned my head back to him.

They had to leave, or they would get caught and get the noose. The thought made me nautious. I didn't want Kinski to get hanged. Kinski stared back at me one last time. His eyes filled with pain and sadness.

More tears trickled down my face as Bill whipped the reins and the wagon lurched forward. It picked up speed when Bill whipped the boar a couple more times. The wagon gradually became smaller and smaller, till it disappeared over the horizon…

...

The posse stopped their roadrunners in front of me. Wounded Bird, Spoons and Elgin gently helped me up. My head throbbed in pain. My legs felt like jelly. I couldn't seem to support myself. I was as limp as a rag doll. Pain shot through my body.

Just then, I heard Kaliah screeching from inside. Rango told his men to check the hideout. I watched them as they all filed into the hideout. I groaned weakly.

Doc wrapped fresh bandages around my bleeding wounds. My eyes started to feel heavy as I was lifted up onto a roadrunner. My mind went blank and I closed my eyes and everything went black...


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15-The final chapter! yay! :) enjoy**

My eyes fluttered open and I found myself in a bed with white sheets. I looked around. The walls were dirty white and had some areas where it had cracks and rotting beams. I slowly sat upright. Doc appeared next to me. "Hello, Banshee, how are you feeling?" he asked. I gave him a confused look.

"Where am I?" I asked him. He reached down and took a swig from a bottle and placed it back down on the ground. "Yer in my office, recovering from yesterday," he said. "Yesterday?" I asked. Doc nodded. "You went to the Abandoned Mines," he said. I blinked. _Abandoned Mines…_

An image of Rattlesnake Jake appeared in my head. I flinched uncomfortably. Small parts of memory started to piece back together. My head throbbed with pain again. I groaned and rubbed it gently with my left bandaged wing. My eyes went wide when I remembered how Bill, his gang, and I escaped the rattlesnake.

"Kaliah! Where's Kaliah? Is she all right? Did Jake kill her?" I asked Doc, panicking. Doc placed his hands in front of his chest and told me to calm down. "She's fine, she's fine. We found her lying unconscious around some blood, but she'll recover. As for Jake, we didn't see him, must have left right when we came," guessed Doc, shrugging his shoulders. I sighed with relief, but felt my ribcage tightening.

"Banshee," I heard a person say my name. I turned my head to the left. My eyes widened. It was the stranger I shot when I was with the gang. The stranger's dish like ears twitched and listened to the strange sounds in the room. He had bandages wrapped around his arm where I nicked him in the shoulder.

"Y-yes?" I asked. The stranger stared at me. "Yer the bat. Yer the one that shot me," he said. He didn't seem upset. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry-" I said. The stranger held his good arm up, silently telling me to stop. He continued. "Doc told me the story, you don't have to apologize," he said. I didn't say anything. The stranger continued. "Very dangerous, to join a gang, to save the lives of these citizens in this here town," he said.

"They care for me, I owe them," I said. The stranger nodded. "Amazing. Very amazing," he said. I sighed and rested my head against the pillow. I stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah," I said. We didn't talk for a while. I closed my eyes for a couple minutes, until the stranger spoke again.

"The name's Iron, by the way," he said. I opened my eyes and turned my head back to him. "Iron?" I asked. Iron nodded. "Got the name when I was with my parents. We worked with metals, my brother's name was Bronze. We would go around for metals and sell them to the nearby towns," he explained. I nodded, "Interesting," I said. Iron smiled.

"Yep, that's also why I came down here. Heard there was metals here. Special types, just a rumor I guess," Iron shrugged. I blinked. _Special metals? Here? _I thought. I started to ponder over what Iron said. _I wonder if Bill knew about the "special metals" and that's why he lives in the Abandoned Mines…but wouldn't he have found them already? Why did he want the town? _Questions floated around in my head. Iron interrupted my thoughts.

"What about you? How did ya git yer name? Did you live in a graveyard or something?" he asked. I shook my head. "No, The town named me because of my scream ability." I said. Iron gave me a quizzical look. "Scream ability?" he asked. I nodded. "I'll show you when I recover," I said.

Iron's nose twitched. "So, you ain't from around here, are you?" he asked. I shook my head, "No, I don't know who I am or where I come from, but the town was nice to let me stay and start over," I said with a small smile. Iron smiled back. "Well, that's good, it's good to find people who will help you," he said.

Later on, Rango's posse came around to visit me. Occasionally, some citizens would come by and see me. They apologized for not believing me when I told them about Bill's plan. I told them it was all right, but they gave me things as a sign of gratitude and apologies. Some gave me little gifts, like water, and fruit. I accepted the gifts and thanked them. The kids of Dirt came by as well. They told me how I was really cool. Priscilla told me how she wanted to be just like me when she grew up. I enjoyed everyone's visit.

When everyone left, Iron and I talked for a while. I told him the story of how I came to Dirt, and what happened while I was with the gang. Iron's ears twitched and listened to my story. He listened with interest and didn't interrupt.

I had no idea what time it was when I finished my story, but I felt my eyes getting heavy. Iron stretched his arms in his bed and yawned. "Well, at least you stopped Bad Bill and his gang from taking over the town, yer mission is complete," he said as he settled down and fell asleep. "Yeah, I succeeded," I yawned. I pulled the sheets up to my chin and closed my eyes.

...

The next morning, I woke up to the mouth watering smell of warm, scrambled roadrunner eggs, dry toast, and small hot pancakes. I opened my eyes and found the Rodent family standing next to me with smiles on their faces. I slowly sat upright and looked up at them. I was happy to see them.

"Morning Banshee," said Mrs. Rodent as she placed the plate of food onto my lap. She handed me a fork and I dug in. "Thank you," I said as I swallowed my eggs. "Babbi!" Petunia said. She reached her hands out to me. Her father held her in his arms. "Sorry we weren't here to see you yesterday, everyone wanted to see you," said Mr. Rodent. I smiled as I chewed the dry toast. "That's ok, I understand," I said. Stub handed me a glass of water, which I gulped down in seconds.

"Heard you fought Rattlesnake Jake," said Stub. I stopped eating. Stub continued. "Did ya kill him?" he asked. I shook my head, "No," I said. Stub smiled. "I bet he was real scared when he saw ya, huh?" said the young rodent. I smiled, but decided to not say anything.

When I was done, Mrs. Rodent took my plate. Petunia got out of her father's arms and jumped onto my lap. I felt my bones snap inside. "Babbi!" said Petunia as she touched my face and hair. The Rodent family talked to me and told me how when I got better, I was still allowed to stay with them in their home. I thanked them and said goodbye when they left.

Later on, Iron woke up and we talked for a while. Just then, Doc came in to see how we were doing. I felt the blood drain out of my face when I watched him pull out a vaccination needle, filled with a strange colored liquid. I flinched in fear. "W-what's that?" I asked. Doc pointed to the needle in his hands. "This, is what's going to help you recover, now hold still, it will only hurt for a second," he said as he unraveled the bandages around my arm. When the needle was injected into my arm, I screamed. The wall accross from me exploded and left a gapping hole. Iron gawked at the wall. "Woah," he said. When Doc was done he wrabbed my arm back up. Iron was amazed at my scream ability. "That was amazing! You we'rent kidding about that strange scream ability! we're you born with it or something?" he asked me. I just shrugged, rubbing my sore arm. Doc walked over to Iron and checked his bandaged arm.

Iron was allowed to leave when Doc checked his healed wound and unravelled his bandages. Iron shook his head. "Nah, I'd rather stay here and keep Banshee company," he said. I smiled. I enjoyed Iron's company and was glad he decided to stay a little while longer. He told me that when I fully recovered, that he was going to leave town.

"Heard a town had a mine full of silver, I'm curious to settle there and possibly start a business," he told me. I didn't want him to leave, but it was best for him to leave Dirt. The town of Dirt wasn't a place to stay, since a lot of bizarre and horrible things happen. Also to add that he almost got killed, so he was better off someplace else. Iron told me more about his family and what he did.

I listened, until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Iron yawned and drank his glass of water that sat on the nightstand next to his bed. "Well, I'll tell the rest of the story tomorrow, I can't seem to stay awake," said Iron as he got into bed. "Me too," I said as I laid my head down. "Goodnight, Banshee," said Iron as he pulled the covers up and fell asleep. "Goodnight, Iron," I said as I drifted off to sleep.

I dreamed I was with Kinski. We walked together down the town of Dirt. No one seemed to mind as we walked. Kinski and I started up a conversation, but when I woke up, I couldn't remember it. I sighed as I sat upright in bed. It was pitch black in the room. I could hear Iron snoring softly in his pillow.I touched my bandaged wings, thinking about Kinski. I wanted to know where he was. I wanted to know if he was ok. My throat started to tighten up. I felt tears come to my eyes as I laid back down.

...

I woke up the next morning with no visitors. Iron and I ate our breakfast. Iron finished his story from yesterday. A couple hours later, Rango and Beans came in to see how I was doing. I asked them if they have seen Jake or Bill and his gang anywhere. They shook their heads. "Right when we left the Abandoned Mines, back to Dirt, no outlaws were seen," said Beans. I sighed and laid my head back down.

I thought back when I watched as the wagon left. They were gone. Would they come back? Where were they now? Did they move to a different town? I pushed the thought away when tears came to my eyes. I couldn't stop thinking about Kinski. It was torture. "Banshee? Are you ok?" asked Iron.

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Huh?" I asked. Iron gave me a look. "You seem distracted, something wrong?" he asked me. I shook my head. "No," I lied. Iron didn't believe me. He was about to ask something else, but was interrupted when Rango's posse came in carrying Kaliah.

My mouth dropped open in shock. "Kaliah," I said and started to get out of bed. Doc came over to me and forced me to lay back down. The men carefully placed Kaliah into the bed next to me to the right. Kaliah's eyes were closed. Her wings and body were bandaged up. Blood seeped through the bandages. In some areas, I saw deep gashes and visible scars. I stared at her in shock.

"Is she ok?" I asked Doc. Doc rubbed his face in exhaustion. "She's fine. We kept her in a different room when she was unconscious. When she awoke, I couldn't calm her down. So, I figured that she would settle down when she knew that you were ok, and you could keep her company," said the one eared rabbit.

I smiled a small smile, but it disappeared when I heard Kaliah groan in pain. "Kaliah?" I said softly. Kaliah's bleeding ears twitched. She whimpered and screeched softly. I stretched my bandaged wing out to her. The tip of my wing lightly brushed over her left wing that drooped over and laid on the ground. Kaliah's face gradually relaxed.

* * *

Two days passed when Kaliah was able to open her eyes and speak to me. I asked her what happened when she fought Rattlesnake Jake. Kaliah lowered her scratched face.

"_I don't really want to talk about it," _Kaliah said in a low voice.

I nodded. "Oh, all right, you don't have to," I said. Iron gave me a look. "You understand it?" he asked. I nodded. "I can understand _her_. Kaliah," I said. Iron's ears twitched and he scratched the side of his face. "Ah, well…what did she say?" he asked."She said she didn't want to talk about her fight with Rattlesnake Jake," I said. Iron's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, so _she's _the bat who fought the snake so you could get away," said Iron, picking back to the story I told him. Iron continued. "Did you kill him?" he asked her. Kaliah's blind eyes turned to me blankly."Iron asked if you killed Jake," I said. Kaliah sniffed the air.

"_Iron. That's a strange name, and no I didn't kill him…He slithered away when he heard the sheriff's men come in. they found me on the ground…" _she said, her voice faltering.

I turned back to Iron and shook my head. "No," I said. Iron didn't say anything as he sat on his cot bed. I felt my stomach churn when Kaliah whimpered in pain. I felt horrible for Kaliah. "Thank you, for saving us," I said. Kaliah smiled a small smile, but it disappeared when another wave of pain shot through her wings. When the pains ceased, she spoke.

"_Don't mention it, we're even," _she said.

I didn't understand what she meant by that. I guess because I took care of her and fed her. She was my friend, and I was her friend. "What did she say?" asked Iron. I turned my head from Kaliah, to Iron. "She said to me, "your welcome,"" I said with a smile. Kaliah gave me a look, but smiled as well and laid her head down.

Iron spat the ground then laid down in his cot bed. "I would hate to come face to face with that devil," said Iron as he stared up at the ceiling. Kaliah went back to sleep. I sat there on my bed. My wings were still sore, but they didn't hurt as much.

* * *

Days went by. Later, I was able to go outside. I still had to wear bandages, but I didn't care, I was glad to leave the musty room. Iron stayed with Kaliah. He would help Doc take care of her. Kaliah allowed Iron to feed her medicine. She seemed to like Iron and trusted him. I guess Iron somewhat reminded her of her master, Balthazar.

I continued down the street. Main street was somewhat cleaned up. Almost all the blood and guts were washed away. Some citizens waved to me as they continued scrubbing away at the blood stains on the windows and wooden steps of their homes. As I walked around, I didn't realize where I was going. I accidentally bumped into a spider.

"Oh! I'm sorry-" I said but stopped in mid sentence. The spider was a black widow. He wore a black coat with coattails and a black top hat. He wore steam punk looking goggles and held a hammer and nails in his two front arms. I gasped and took a step back. The black spider took a step back as well. He stared at me. His goggle eyes twitched and moved. The smaller goggle lenses moved around. Looking at me from head to toe. I stood there, frozen to the spot. I have never seen him around before. Just then, Priscilla came up to me.

"Hey Banshee! Yer out of Doc's office," she said. I nodded. The black spider looked down at the small little girl. Priscilla turned and smiled at the spider. "Hi, Mr. Black," she said. The spider, now named Mr. Black, nodded his head. Priscilla turned back to me. "You wanna come with me?" she asked. "sure," I said, trying to not stare at the spider. Priscilla smiled. "Bye Mr. Black," she said and waved. Mr. Black smiled and nodded his head again. I followed Priscilla down the street. When I turned my head back around to look at the spider one last time, he was gone.

"Who was that? I've never seen him around before," I said. Priscilla looked up at me. "Oh, that's Mr. Black, he's the undertaker of the town. He builds the coffins and arranges the funerals for all of the deceased. He was working non stop every time the new sheriff came to the town," Priscilla smiled cheerfully. "He would let me poke the dead sheriffs and examine them before he buried them," she added, her smile widening. I gave her a small, nervous smile. I never knew Priscilla would be interested in the deceased.

"I have a skull of the roadrunner that sheriff Amos used to ride, you wanna come and see it?" she asked me, her huge amber eyes looking up at me with excitement. I smiled. "Sure," I said. Priscilla led the way to her house. She opened the door and we both walked inside. Her house smelled musty.

The lighting inside was dim and stuffy. A dull, naked hanging light bulb lit the small living room. There were ugly couches with springs sticking out. Strewn across the ground were empty beer bottles. "Are your parents home?" I asked her as we walked up a couple of squeaky wooden stairs. Priscilla shook her head. "No, my parents are dead, I live with my uncle, he's sleeping in his room," she said. We got to the top of the stairs and down a hallway. Priscilla and I walked all the way down to the end and into a room. "Sorry, my room is a bit messy," she said as we entered inside.

Priscilla's room was full of strange objects. Her bed was cluttered with black fabric and spools of black, red, white, grey and green thread. On the ground was hundreds of little bones, clothes, bits of food, and strange jewellery. On the paint peeling walls were hand drawn pictures of animal skulls, dead bodies, bleeding hearts, and graveyards. Other pictures were labels or designs for beer bottles and firecrackers. In one corner was a cracked gravestone. On a badly made dresser were different types of animal teeth, pieces of sharp colorful glass, rusty nails, and one roadrunner skull.

Priscilla walked up to the roadrunner skull and lifted it off her dresser. She carefully walked over all the junk on her floor and handed the skull to me. I stared at it. "Wow, that's cool," I said with a smile as I examined it more closely. Priscilla smiled. "Thanks. You know, yer the first girl to ever say that, and not drop the skull and scream in disgust," she said. I kept looking at the skull. I wasn't disgusted by the skull at all. I was actually fastinated with it. It was amazing. I guess I didn't mind things like that. "Why wouldn't I be fascinated with this? Its cool," I said as I handed the skull back. Priscilla looked down at the skull for a minute. "None of the girls at my school are like that. They don't like hanging around with me because I'm…different," she said. I stared down at Priscilla.

What she said instantly reminded me of Kinski, how he said he was mistreated and looked down upon, just because he was different. All three of us, Priscilla, Kinski, and I. We were all misfits, living in a cruel world. I knelt down and hugged Priscilla. "There's nothing wrong with being different," I said to her. Priscilla hugged me back. When I let go of her, she smiled up at me. "Thanks, Banshee," she said. Then she turned around and placed her roadrunner skull back where she got it.

...

We walked out of her house and down the street. The day started to get late. I said good-bye to Priscilla and headed back to Doc's office. Kaliah and Iron were next to each other. Iron stroked Kaliah's hair gently as she smiled in her sleep. Iron saw me come in and continued petting Kaliah. "She's a really cool bat," said Iron in a whisper. I nodded.

"Yeah, she is. I just wish she could stay here. Rango, his posse and I are going to take her home when she get's better," I said. Iron nodded and looked back down at Kaliah. He continued petting her. I was really amazed that she let Iron pet her. She always seemed wild and full of anger in her, but now, she's calm and happy. I yawned and slipped into my bed.

Right when I was about to, Iron turned his head to me. "Do you think she would let me ride her when she gets better?" he asked. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure she would, she seems to like you; but how many more days did Doc say when she'll be fully recovered?" I asked him. Iron stopped stroking Kaliah and thought for a minute. "I think he said two weeks, but I can wait," he said with a smile. I smiled back and went to sleep.

* * *

The two weeks passed, and Kaliah was able to move around again. She screeched happily as Iron and Doc unravelled her bandages. She flapped her wings and flew around in the room. Her wings rubbed up against the walls, and knocked over night dressers and lamps. "Git her outside," said Doc as he tried grabbing the excited bat. Iron and I grabbed Kaliah and helped her outside. Her body was big, and was hard to get through the door.

Kaliah flapped her wings and flew through the skies. Iron and I watched her. "Wow, I wish I could fly like that," said Iron. I looked down at my bandaged wings sadly. My wings were still damaged. Doc told me I had to wait a couple more weeks till he was able to take off the bandages. I missed flying, it was the best thing to ever have.

I looked up, just as Kaliah came down and landed in front of us. Iron came up to her and stroked her hair. Kaliah smiled and allowed him to scratch behind her ears. I instantly remembered to ask Kaliah if Iron could ride her. I walked up to Kaliah. "Hey Kaliah, Iron was wondering if he could ride you," I said. Kaliah smiled and nodded. Before I could tell Iron, Kaliah went down on her belly. Iron's eyes widened and he turned to me. I nodded my head. Iron excitedly jumped on Kaliah and held onto her mane. Instantly, Kaliah took off through the skies. I watched Kaliah fly through the air. Iron whooped and cheered in the sky. A couple people came out and watched the bat and mouse. Kaliah flew over their heads and went up again. The kids screamed with excitement and jumped for joy. When Iron's ride ended, some of the town kids came up to Kaliah and asked to ride her.

Kaliah became the main attraction in the town. She let the citizens take a ride on her back as she flew over the town. Kaliah didn't mind at all, she was just happy to be able to fly again. When the day grew late, everyone had to go home. Kaliah landed and laid there in the middle of the road. She stuck her pink tongue out and started to pant. Iron and I helped her back into Doc's office to sleep for the night.

Iron stroked Kaliah's head one last time before leaving the office. "Are you leaving?" I asked Iron. Iron turned to me and nodded. "Yeah, I am," he said. My shoulders went down. "Cant you stay a little longer?" I asked him. Iron smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, but I'll visit when I can," he said.

Iron gave me a hug. I hugged him back. "It was good to see you Banshee, I hope you have a wonderful new life here in Dirt," he said. "I hope you do wherever you are going too, and good luck with your metal business," I said to Iron. We both stopped hugging and I watched as Iron waved goodbye and walked down the street where he last left his wagon full of mining supplies and metals. I waved back as he whipped the reins. The two roadrunners hitched up to the wagon woke up from their nap and started to move. I watched as the wagon left Dirt till it disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

The next day, we entered the prairie dog territory. I steadied my breathing and looked down at the ground. Kaliah crawled on all fours next to me. Rango and the posse followed right behind us. They got down off their roadrunners and left them. We didn't say anything as we got closer.

The prairie dogs were already out. They were brushing their bats' fur and feeding them what looked like dried up roots. Balthazar was hitting a small prairie dog with his stick. "Ezekiel! I'm gonna whup you till you become a raw piece of meat left out in the sun!" yelled Balthazar. "Pappy! Ow! I-ow! Sorry!" said the prairie dog named Ezekiel. His voice instantly made me remember where I heard him from. He was the one that shot Kaliah when the gang and I were stealing her that night.

We approached them. The prairie dogs looked up and saw us. Balthazar stopped hitting Ezekiel and sniffed the air. "What the hell? What are you all doin' here again?" he asked and moved his stick back and forth on the ground and walked up to us. Rango placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him. He looked back at me and nodded.

I sighed, "I came to return Kaliah-" I said to Balthazar. "Kaliah? You found her?!" asked Balthazar happily. Kaliah screeched and came up to her master. "Kaliah! Oh Hallelujah! I'm so happy to have you back!" Balthazar said happily and wrapped his arms around Kaliah's neck. Kaliah screeched happily and wrapped her wings around him.

I smiled a small smile, but then my smile faded. I had to tell him. Surely he will beat me till I can't feel my body, or do the worst to me, but at least I did the right thing in returning Kaliah to him. "Balthazar? I need to tell you something else," I said sadly. Then Balthazar stopped hugging Kaliah and walked his way toward me.

"I- " I started but then was interrupted by Balthazar. "Thank you so much for finding my Kaliah and returning her to me!" Balthazar said happily and wrapped his arms around me. I stiffened, my arms screaming in pain. Rango and the posse looked at Balthazar in shock. They have never seen him so happy, let alone hug someone. I turned my heasd to Kaliah, who seemed to be laughing.

"_Its ok, you don't have to tell him," _said Kaliah to me.

Balthazar stopped hugging me and patted my shoulder. "Thank you again, I never thought I would see my beloved Kaliah again, you have my gratitude," he said and went back to Kaliah. I rubbed my sore wings and smiled as I watched Balthazar hug Kaliah again. Kaliah screeched and flapped her wings happily. Then, Kaliah came up to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"_Good-bye Banshee, hope we an meet again soon," _said Kaliah.

I hugged Kaliah back. "Yep, you too," I said. Then I looked back at Rango and the posse. They smiled back at me. When I was done hugging my friend, I said goodbye to Balthazar, Kaliah, and all the prairie dogs around them. As we walked back to our roadrunners, I looked back and watched as Kaliah was surrounded by all the prairie dogs and bats. My stomach unknotted itself. It was nice to see Kaliah happy, and to be back with her family again. I turned back and mounted my roadrunner. When Rango and his posse were all on their roadrunners, we all rode out of the Prairie Dog Territory.

* * *

The sun sank lower and lower as we rode. Finally, the Abandoned Mines came into view. I felt a twinge of pain in my heart as we came closer to it. I sighed sadly as I slowly passed by it. I turned my head and saw the empty stable Kaliah once stayed in, and the entrance to the hideout. I looked away when I felt tears come to my eyes. I stared down at my wings that held the reins to my roadrunner. I wiped the tears away.

Suddenly, at the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I quickly turned my head back to the Abandoned Mines. My heart lifted a bit as my ears perked up and listened. Silence. "Banshee? You ok?" asked Rango, noticing my strange behavior. My eyes flickered from Rango, back to the mines.

"Huh? Uh, y-yeah…yeah, I'm fine," I said. I noticed something shoot its head back into the hideout. I might have imagined it, but I could've sworn I saw a flash of blond hair. When we passed by the Abandoned Mines and were a good distance away, I turned my head back.

Faint, but clear, I saw Kinski in front of the mines. Standing there. The breeze rustled his dishevelled hair. My eyes widened with excitement and my heart lifted from my chest. I turned around and straightened up on my roadrunner. I rode with a smile on my face next to Rango and the others as we headed back home to the town of Dirt.

The End!

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow, I never thought I would be able to finish this story. I am so happy how it turned out. It's a lot better then how I first started out. If you keep working at it, it will all work out in the end :)**** Thank you so much for reading this story and all your wonderful comments :) I might would have not finished it without your support. Thank you again!**

**-Bat13SJx **

**Original Character (O.C.): Banshee**

**My Characters: Ricochet, Petunia, Stub, Mr. and Mrs. Rodent, Kaliah, Iron, Hector, Blade, Klaus, Loyal, Gerome, Skimp, Rye, and all the nameless outlaws. **


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